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1791 — ROBERT YOUNG HAYNE— 1839, 

By Samuel Finley Breese Morse, 1820. 

From the original portrait in possession of Mrs. William Alston Hayne, San Francisco, Cal 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



AND HIS TIMES 



BY 

THEODORE D. JERVEY 

SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL 

SOCIETY, AUTHOR OF " THE ELDER BROTHER," A NOVEL 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA, RECONSTRUCTED 



" I can well recollect, Sir, that among the first lessons instilled 
into my mind, that which made the deepest and most lasting 
impression was to consider the Republican Institutions of my 
country like the air which we breathe, as bestowing life and health 
and happiness, without our being conscious of the means by 
which those inestimable gifts are conferred ; Hke the Providence 
of God unfelt and unseen, yet dispensing the richest blessings to 
all the children of men." — Hayne, 1824, 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1909 

All rights reserved 






Copyright, 1909, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1909. 



NarinooD ^rrss 

J. 8. Cushing Co. — Horwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two CoDies PfC'ved 

MAY 4 1B09 

^., Copyriicnt £;itry . 



^ 



i 

Co 
ALL SOUTH CAROLINIANS 

WHATEVER THEIR DIFFERENCES 
WHO HAVE BRAVELY STRIVEN FOR THEIR CONVICTIONS 

THIS BOOK 
IS DEDICATED 



PREFACE 

In presenting to the public a life of Robert Y. Hayne, a word 
of explanation seems appropriate. Few, if any, of the public 
men of the United States have been so neglected by students 
of history ; and it is astonishing to note how many writers, some 
of whom are otherwise quite careful, have been guilty of repeat- 
ing the statement that, save for the fact that on the floor of the 
United States Senate he drew from Daniel Webster his greatest 
oratorial effort, Hayne would not be known to our national 
history. Yet it is undeniable that, within five months of his 
connection with that distinguished body, the senator from South 
Carolina was the undisputed leader of his faction. This posi- 
tion he held throughout the constantly recurring struggle which 
culminated in the great crisis, nullification. During this period 
Mahlon Dickerson gave way to Webster, and Webster in turn 
to Clay, as the leader of the opposing faction, the Protectionists. 

Of the carelessness which has in great measure brought about 
the low estimate of Hayne, evidence is found in allusions to the 
South Carolinian in recent works. For example, in one history 
of the United States which on the whole deserves praise for its 
fairness and liberality, we find the statement, " Senator Hayne 
was a man of finished education." The facts are that he never 
received any college instruction, was forced by his necessities 
to prepare himself for, and to apply for admission to, the bar 
before he had attained his majority, and was in possession of a 
lucrative practice at an age when most men who enjoy the 
opportunity are still in college. 

vii 



viii PREFACE 

Another writer asserts that in the Great Debate, " Senator 
Hayne — whose speeches were not remarkable — was put for- 
ward to deliver the prologue, but Calhoun was the prompter 
behind the scenes." No authority is cited for this assertion. 
It is made, moreover, in spite of the fact, easily ascertainable, 
that in the first and greatest argument ever made by Calhoun 
for nullification, and published but little more than a year after 
the debate, one of Hayne's main contentions is flatly contra- 
dicted. If Webster considered the contention untenable, an 
even greater opponent of nullification, Edward Livingston, 
declared that it was unassailable. 

Of course there are some writers who have treated him more 
fairly. Cicero W. Harris pays a fine tribute to the South Caro- 
linian in his " Sectional Struggle," and Woodrow Wilson in his 
" Division and Reunion " accords juster treatment than is usually 
rendered to him in the Great Debate ; while Meigs, in a later 
and more careful life of Benton than that which appears in the 
" American Statesmen " series, if he singles Hayne out for no 
especial eulogium, at least exhibits some discrimination in his 
comments and refrains from belittling references. Yet the 
usual estimate of the man can only be described as slighting; 
and so distinctly has this impressed itself upon me that I have 
attempted to comply with the suggestion that I should prepare 
a sketch of Hayne's life. 

In arriving at conclusions, it has been my aim to be influ- 
enced as little as possible by commentators, but to leave the 
reader to form his own opinion from the facts. The occasional 
discovery that my own estimate of any matter was in accord 
with that of eminent individuals was of course most pleasing, 
and in no case more so than in the characterization of Hayne's 
great speech on the tariff of 1824 in the " Life of Martin Van 
Buren," by Edward M. Shepard of the New York Bar. 

In the endeavor to picture the man, I have deemed it essen- 



PREFACE ix 

tial to portray, as far as lay in my power, Hayne's environment. 
Through patient search, I believe that I have gathered some 
incidents of his life and facts relating to the South Carolina of 
his day which are not generally known. That the work is 
imperfect is quite patent to me ; but, imperfect as it is, it is my 
hope that it may lead to a more careful consideration of the 
lofty aspirations, the notable achievements, and the profound 
wisdom of a statesman long neglected, the purity and self- 
abnegation of whose life has never been surpassed in our 
history, and the grasp of whose intellect on some questions still 
before us reached a depth we are not yet capable of accurately 
fathoming. 

In the prosecution of this attempt, one of my chief difficulties 
has been due to the loss of the bulk of Hayne's papers and 
correspondence in the period immediately following the Civil 
War. Through the kindness of Mr, John Taylor of Colum- 
bia, S.C, however, I have had an opportunity of examining a 
few letters to him which are still preserved. While I have 
drawn upon standard works for occasional extracts, I have 
endeavored as far as possible to reach original sources. In the 
main, although greatly assisted by the correspondence of Cal- 
houn, edited by Dr. Jameson, and the abridgment of the 
Debates of Congress, my work rests on the very complete files 
of the press of South Carolina for this period. 

To Miss Ellen FitzSimons, the librarian of the Charleston 
Library, and to Professor Nathaniel W. Stephenson, of the 
College of Charleston, I am grateful for helpful assistance and 
encouragement. For the portrait of Hayne by Morse, which 
appeared as an illustration for the first time in Elson's " History 
of the United States," I am indebted to the widow of Senator 
Hayne's son, William Alston Hayne. A photograph from the 
painting in her possession was obtained through the kindness 
of Miss Susan Pringle of Charleston, who has also assisted me 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI 

PAGK 

Hayne as Attorney-General — Letters to Cheves — Republican party in 

nation broken into factions — Conditions in South Carolina . . 82 

CHAPTER Vll 
Judge Nott's opinion on nullification 03 

CHAPTER VIII 
The rise of the negro question and its corollary, the tariff ... 99 

CHAPTER IX 
The Charleston memorial against the tariff 106 

CHAPTER X 

A consideration of the tone of public opinion and interest in industrial 

enterprise, North and South, in 1 82 1 114 

CHAPTER XI 

Lowndes nominated for the Presidency by the Legislature of South Car- 
olina ,25 

CHAPTER XII 
Denmark Vesey's insurrection ........ 130 

CHAPTER XIII 
Hayne's election to the United States Senate 137 

BOOK II 

THE APPEAL TO REASON 
CHAPTER I 



I 



Hayne's entrance into the United States Senate — His portrait by Ben- 
ton — His influence from the outset 



149 



CONTENTS xiil 



PAGE 



CHAPTER II 
Hayne's great speech against the tariff of 1824 158 

CHAPTER III 

Hayne's controversy with Ex-Senator Smith — The latter's war on Cal- 
houn — Calhoun's abandonment of his canvass for the Presidency . 168 

CHAPTER IV 

The controversy over Canning's protest concerning South Carolina's 
legislation with regard to negroes entering her ports — Hayne's opin- 
ion as to the tone of the Legislature —The resolution of Senator King 
of New York — Hayne's reply 178 

CHAPTER V 

The struggle between Calhoun and Smith for control of the State — 

Hayne's speech against the Panama mission 186 

CHAPTER VI 

A glimpse of society at the federal capital and at Charleston in the twen- i^ 
ties — Charitable, educational, religious and industrial conditions at 
the latter place ^94 

CHAPTER VII 
Hayne's remarkable speech against the Colonization Society . . 202 

CHAPTER VIII 

Calhoun foresees trouble — Webster enters the Senate — Boston con- 
fides her memorial against higher duties to Hayne — The Charleston- 
Hamburg Railroad begun — " The damned tariff and our friend 

J-Q-" 



211 



CHAPTER IX 

The temper of South Carolina in 1828 — Hayne reelected by unanimous 

vote to the Senate — His first clash with Webster .... 220 



xiv CONTENTS 



CHAPTER X 

PAGE 

**Our friend J. Q." — His varying views on various subjects — His esti- 
mate of Webster and of Hayne and of the great debate . . . 227 



CHAPTER XI 
Hayne's speech on the public lands — Webster's assault upon Hayne . 235 

CHAPTER XII 
Hayne's reply to Webster 241 

CHAPTER XIII 
Webster's rejoinder to the reply 253 

CHAPTER XIV 
The debate closed and the record set straight 260 

CHAPTER XV 

Some Northern estimates of Hayne — Charleston's appreciation of Web- 
ster — The mechanics of Charleston — Their belief in the Union as 
well as the locomotive ......... 268 

CHAPTER XVI 
D. E. Huger defeats the attempt to nullify in 1830 .... 278 

CHAPTER XVII 

The breach between Calhoun and Jackson — McDuffie precipitates nullifi- 
cation against the approval of Calhoun — Hayne expounds its prac- 
ticability from its previous use — Calhoun's logical exposition — 
Sumter's solemn appeal ......... 286 

CHAPTER XVIII 

The struggle for control of South Carolina — The last appeal to reason 

at Washington .......... 297 



CONTENTS XV 



CHAPTER XIX 



PAGE 



Clay threatens South Carolina in his reply — Hayne's error in supporting 
Clay. Webster and Calhoun in their opposition to Van Buren's ap- 
pointment — He supports Benton in sustaining Jackson's veto of 
the bank bill against Clay and Webster 312 



BOOK III 

THE APPEAL TO FORCE 

CHAPTER I 

The nullification convention — Henry Middleton's point — Hayne 

elected Governor, Floyd for President — Hayne's inaugural . . 317 

CHAPTER n 

Calhoun succeeds Hayne in the Senate — The President's Proclamation 
— Its force as estimated by the Legislature of South Carolina — John 
Quincy Adams's opinion of it and of Hayne's reply . . . 327 

CHAPTER III 

Hayne's defiant reply to the President's Proclamation and why it contained 

some bitter words 335 

CHAPTER IV 

The attitude of the South Carolina Legislature with regard to the Proc- 
lamation — The interposition of Virginia — Calhoun's confidence . 341 

CHAPTER V 

The debate on Clay's Compromise bill on the tariff and Wilkins's Revenue 
collection bill — South Carolina accepts the first and nullifies the 
second 347 

CHAPTER VI 

Charleston, as she appeared in the light of the nullification ball and the 

Hamburg Railroad in 1833 — Political comment North . . . 356 



xvi CONTENTS 



CHAPTER VII 

PAGE 

Hayne's character as evinced by his declarations — His temperament as 
contrasted with that of Calhoun — The contemplated route of the 
railroad to the West in 1833 3^4 

CHAPTER VIII 

The spirit of intolerance cropping out — The progress of the railroad — 
The test oath and Hayne's tactful influence — Nullifiers and Unionists 
come together 373 



BOOK IV 
THE APPEAL TO INTEREST 

CHAPTER I 

The Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad — Hayne's deep in- 
terest in it as a means of preserving the Union — Calhoun's attempt 
to divert the route 383 

CHAPTER II 

The political possibilities of the great Western Railroad in the light of 
abolition agitation — The revolt of H. L. Pinckney from the domina- 
tion of Calhoun over the South Carolina delegation in Congress — 
The Knoxville convention — Hayne made president . . . 393 

CHAPTER III 

Pinckney's defeat — Calhoun's new route — Small amount of subscrip- 
tions outside of South Carolina — McDuffie's powerful criticism — 
How it was met — The vote of the State for President of the United 
States 404 

CHAPTER IV 

Memminger secures the acceptance by North Carolina of the amended 
charter for the road — Anonymous attack on road \n Mercury — 
Hayne's reply — Suspension of specie payments by Northern banks 
— Action of Charleston banks ....... 417 



CONTENTS xvii 



CHAPTER V 

PAGB 

Meeting at Charleston to denounce banks captured by opponents — 
Reverend Fiske threatens bloodshed if Hayne presides — Hayne 
presides and Fiske is struck — Ex-Governor Wilson and Waddy 
Thompson criticise the chairman — Hayne's term as mayor ends 
successfully — Division in Congressional delegation from South 
Carolina — Petigru a false prophet 430 



CHAPTER VI 

Hayne's argument in behalf of the French Broad route — His reception 
in Tennessee and his last meeting with Jackson — South Carolina 
Legislature supports Calhoun's attitude on divorce of bank and 
State, but lends credit of State to road, on Hayne's appeal . . 441 

CHAPTER VII 

R. Barnwell Rhett's remarkable resolution concerning abolition — Cal- 
houn not ready for it — Hayne's wonderfully clear appreciation of 
Southern industrial conditions 451 

CHAPTER VIII 

Hamilton's revolt — Calhoun consults with Van Buren's Secretary of 
War as to the overthrow of Thompson and Legare — The quarrel 
between Calhoun and Thompson 461 

CHAPTER IX 

Calhoun resigns from the directorship of the Louisville, Charleston and 
Cincinnati Railroad — His two letters considered — Hayne's letter, 
which intervened . . . . . . . . . •471 

CHAPTER X 

Judge King's letter on the bank elections — The estimate of Hayne and 
the Western Road at this time in Virginia — Hayne's letter concern- 
ing the vote to reject the nomination of Van Buren as Minister to 
England — His powerful influence with the South Carolina Legisla- 
ture 489 



xviii CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XI 

PAGK 

Industrial conditions in South Carolina in 1839 — Import and export 
trade, North and South — South Carolina as viewed by her own 
press — The slave trade ........ 499 

CHAPTER XII 

The last meeting of the stockholders of the Louisville, Cincinnati and 
Charleston Railroad which Hayne attended — The contest at the 
meeting 505 

CHAPTER XIII 
Hayne's death and the comments of his contemporaries thereon . • 5^5 

CHAPTER XIV 

The short-lived resurrection of the original scheme of the road — Cling- 
man's powerful speech in vindication of Hayne and Blanding — One 
year more before the collapse — The project critically considered . 525 

Index 537 






LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Robert Young Hayne (i 791-1839) Frontispiece ^ 

By Samuel Finley Breese Morse, 1820. From the original 
portrait in possession of Mrs. William Alston Hayne, 
San Francisco, Cal. 

OPPOSITE PAGE 

Charles Pinckney 21 

Langdon Cheves (1819) 85 "^ 

William Smith 149 ^ 

James Hamilton, Jr. (1832) 317 

Robert Y. Hayne (Valentine's Bust) 383 



XIX 



INTRODUCTORY 

The year 1791 should be a memorable year in the history of \ 
the State of South Carolina : first, because, at the very beginning 
of that year, viz., the 19th of February, was enacted the law for 
the abolition of the rights of primogeniture,^ a statute marking 
the profound change which had taken place in the State, with the , 
adoption of the new State Constitution of the previous year;! 
second, because of the fact that in that year, in the month of May, 
the first and greatest of the Presidents of the Union visited the State, 
and the story of his reception,^ bringing before us, as it does, the 
condition and the sentiments of the people of her metropolis, in- 
dicates, in some manner, what contribution she had made to the 
Federal Union by her ratification of the Federal Constitution, 
which she had had such an important part in framing; third, on 
account of the fact that in the fall of that year, November 10,^ 
was born that South Carolinian who most clearly saw the im- 
pending conflict between the State and Federal sovereignties, 
and most intelligently strove to avert it. 

It is an interesting coincidence that the act for the abolition of 1 
the rights of primogeniture was, by its terms, to go into effect ' 
only the day before the great President reached the city of Charles- 
ton. It had been passed in obedience to the tenth article of the 
State Constitution, ordained the third day of June, 1790, the sug- 

* Statutes at Large, So. Ca., Vol. 5, p. 162. 
' Charleston Year Book, 1883, p. 503. 

* So. Ca. Hist. <& Gen. Mag., Vol. 5, p. 171. 

B I 



2 INTRODUCTORY 

gestion of the young Governor, Charles Pinckney, as the surest 
I safeguard of RepubHcan sentiment. From this, it may be fairly 
inferred that, even after the achievement of her independence and 
the election of her own Executive, up to 1789, the political senti- 
ment of the State, as it found expression in the choice of officials 
and framing of law, was in the main Federalistic and aristocratic ; 
and, probably, no influence exerted by any individuals had been 
more effective in holding her to that faith than that of the two 
illustrious Pinckney brothers, Charles Cotesworth and Thomas, 
both of the school of Washington and Hamilton, — Charles Cotes- 
worth, one of the State's five deputies to the convention, which 
framed the Constitution of the Union, and Thomas, Governor of 
the State, at the time of the selection of these deputies and the 
empowering of such to act. 

But as influential as these two brothers were, the Pinckney 
family had produced, in the person of another and younger member, 
the Charles first above alluded to, one whose influence on the 
history of the State and nation was even greater. 

Captured by the British at the fall of Charleston, then a member 
of the House of Representatives of South Carolina, at the age of 
twenty-two his recognized attainments ^ suggested him to his 
fellows as best suited to draft their remonstrance. On their 
release, elected and reelected to the Continental Congress and, 
in 1787, to the Federal Constitutional Convention,^ it is now in- 
disputable that he was more instrumental in shaping the great 
work there evolved than any single member; for while the draft 
with which he furnished the Convention has been lost, recent in- 
r vestigations establish the fact that of its eighty-four provisions, 

' "He was proficient in Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and Italian." Old 
pamphlet by W. S. E., in possession of Charles Pinckney of Claremont, quoted in 
address to Porter Military Academy, by Theo. D. Jervey, June 25, 1905. News 
& Courier. 

* So. Ca. Hist. & Gen. Mag., Vol. 2, p. 145. 



INTRODUCTORY 3 

no less than thirty-two, and probably more, were incorporated 
at his suggestion.* 

Elected Governor in 1 789, he had had occasion to note the strong 
tide of feeling against Federalism, which the fight of the up-country, 
led by the old veteran, General Sumter, at the ratification of the 
Constitution, had disclosed and, with regard to which the vote of 
89 to 135 ^ to postpone and 73 to 149 to refuse to ratify, was the 
exhibit (many of the members being the same that had in the 
Legislature, at an earlier date, by a vote of 93 to 40 ^ defeated a 
bill, permitting the importation of African slaves) which intimated 
that there was something much more profound than sectional feel- 
ing or class, or commercial interest, that had stirred them to this 
opposition to the Constitution. President of the Convention 
which formulated the new Constitution for the State, while voting 
for Charleston as against Columbia for the capital, on which the 
low-country was defeated by a majority of four votes, in contrast 
to the outspoken Charles Cotesworth, he acted as a compromiser 
and adjuster of differences, as if he realized, even then, how neces- 
sary in the future the aid of some of these very opponents would 
be to him, and how naturally they would turn to him, as a leader; 
for it was a time of change, and the State Constitution itself was 
probably foreshadowed in many particulars by the speech in which 
he opened the deliberations of that body.* 

* "We can say that Pinckney suggested some thirty-one or thirty-two provisions, 
which were finally embodied in the Constitution. ... It must not be assumed 
that we know all that Pinckney thus contributed to the fabric of the Constitution. 
We now know very definitely the nature of his recommendations . . . but there 
were doubtless some other propositions that likewise found permanence in the 
work of the Convention. If mere assertion based on analogy and general prob- 
ability were worth while, other portions of the Constitution might be pointed out 
as coming from the ingenious and confident young statesman of South Carolina." 
"Sketch of Charles Pinckney's Plan for a Constitution, 1787," by Andrew Mc- 
Laughlin, p. 741, American Historical Review. 

* So. Ca. Gazette, April 21 and 23, 1788. 

'So. Ca. Gazette, Jan. 23, 1788. " Thomas Pinckney, " by his grandson, C. C. 
Pinckney, p. 95. " City Gazette, May 12, 1790. 



4 INTRODUCTORY 

The act by which the deputies had been commissioned to par- 
ticipate in the Philadelphia Convention had recited: "Whereas 
the powers at present vested in the United States in Congress 
assembled, by the articles of confederation and perpetual union 
of the said States are found by experience greatly inadequate to 
the weighty purposes they were originally intended to answer, 
and it has become absolutely necessary to the welfare of the con- 
federated States that other and more ample powers in certain 
cases should be vested in and exercised by the said United States 
in Congress assembled, etc. Be it therefore enacted . . . that 
five commissioners be forthwith appointed . . . duly authorized 
and empowered in devising and discussing all such alterations, 
clauses, articles and provisions as may be thought necessary 
to render the Federal Constitution entirely adequate to the 
actual situation and future good government of the confederated 
otates. ... 

The vote to postpone and to refuse to ratify indicates, therefore, 
the dissatisfaction, in some quarters, with the result. 

We have the statesman-like speech in which Charles Pinckney 
defended that work and confidently contemplated the ratification; 
but the efforts of General Sumter and Jehu Wilson, in opposition, 
have not been preserved. In the following burst of poetic frenzy, 
some of the views of the opposition may, however, appear : — 

"In evil hour his pen Squire Adams drew, 
Claiming dominion to his well-born few. 
In the gay circle of St. James' plac'd 
He wrote, and, writing, has his work disgrac'd. 
Smit with the splendor of a British King 
The crown prevail'd, so once despis'd a thing. 
Shelbourne and Pitt approv'd of all he wrote; 
While Rush and Wilson echo back his note. 

' Statutes at Large, So. Ca., Vol. 5, p. 4. 



INTRODUCTORY 5 

"Tho' British armies could not here prevail, 
Yet British politics shall turn the scale. 
In five short years of freedom weary grown 
We quit our plain republics for a throne. 
Congress and President full proof shall bring, 
A mere disguise for Parliament and King. 

"A standing army ! — curse the plan so base; 
A despot's safety, — Liberty's disgrace. — 
Who saved these realms from Britain's bloody hand, 
Who, but the generous rustics of the land. 
That free-born race inured to every toil, 
Who tame the ocean and subdue the soil; 
Who, tyrants banished from this injured shore, 
Domestic traitors may expel once more. 

" Ye, who have bled in Freedom's sacred cause, 
Ah, why desert her maxims and her laws? 
When thirteen States are moulded into one. 
Your rights are vanished and your honors gone. 
The form of Freedom shall alone remain 
As Rome had senators when she hugged the chain. 

" Sent to revise your systems — not to change — 
Sages have done what Reason deems most strange ! 
Some alterations in our fabric we 
Calmly propos'd and hoped to see. 
Ah, now deceived, those heroes in renown 
Scheme for themselves — and pull the fabric down — 
Bid in its place Columbia's tombstone rise 
Inscrib'd with these sad words — Here Freedom lies." ' 

After reading this, we are not greatly surprised to note, Games 
of the up-country, two years later, alluding to Charleston as the 
home of the "opulent" ^ and as a capital less well suited to "those 
who are styled of a Plebeian race " ; for Charleston and the low- 
country, almost to a man, had been for ratification. 

But leaving these contentions, let us glance at the condition of 

» So. Ca. Gazette, Jan. 26, 1788. ' City Gazette, May 26, 1790. 



INTRODUCTORY 



the people of the State, calmed by the abolition of the rights of 
primogeniture and a new apportionment of the representatives. 
By the census of 1790 the population of the State was put at 249,073, 
or about 140,000 whites to about 108,000 negroes. In five out of 
the six districts into which the State was divided, the number of 
whites was as follows: Charleston, 15,743; Georgetown, 11,313; 
Orangeburg and Beaufort, 13,693; Camden, 31,413; Ninety-Six, 
47,288/ 

The city of Charleston, the metropolis of the State, contained 
16,359 inhabitants, 8089 whites and 8270 colored. How many 
of these latter were free does not appear; but that there must have 
been more than a few does appear from the fact that in that year, 
November i, was founded the "Brown Fellowship Society," to 
which it is said free black men were not eligible, and they accord- 
ingly formed their own. The northern boundary of the city was 
Hudson Street, in part; but in the main. Boundary, now called 
Calhoun. Lines of shipping to England, Ireland and Germany 
were established and well patronized; while quite a number of 
artisans found occupation in their trades. 

Butchers, bakers, brewers, distillers, blacksmiths, whitesmiths, 
cutlers, fire-engine makers, house-carpenters, bricklayers, painters, 
glaziers, cabinet-makers, coach-makers, wheelwrights, coopers, 
tanners, stocking-weavers, shoe-makers, saddlers, hatters, tailors, 
peruke-makers, goldsmiths, engravers, watch-makers, copper- 
smiths and brass founders, gunsmiths, tallow-chandlers, printers, 
joiners, mast-makers, ship-carpenters, rope-makers, block-makers, 
sail-makers, carvers, gilders, boat-builders, turners, umbrella- 
makers, glass-grinders, rubbers, diamond-cutters, polishers, sil- 
verers, musical instrument-makers, limners, stationers and book- 
binders all marched ^ in the procession from Roper's Wharf to 
Federal Green with the "gentleman planters," professional men 



^ So. Ca. Gazette, Jan. i, 1791. 



'State Gazette, June 2, 1788. 



INTRODUCTORY 7 

and officials the day the Constitution was ratified, two years pre- 
vious; while in the daily papers of this year, in juxtaposition to 
advertisements with regard to miniature painting and polite litera- 
ture, appeared offerings of fine dress goods for fine folk and osna- 
burgs for negroes; good stock, excellent land and prime field- 
hands for cultivating same. 

The General Assembly of the State, consisting of 125 members 
of the House and 36 of the Senate, had just reelected Charles 
Pinckney Governor by a majority of 49 votes, and the supplies for 
government, including ;^9oo salary for the Governor, and ;^ioo 
for his secretary, aggregated ;^37,36i. The State, according 
to the Connecticut American Mirror, "was getting into a good 
way, under a new constitution." ^ 

This ;!(^9oo, or $4500, was, at this time, a small matter to the Gov- 
ernor, as he was the fortunate owner of seven plantations and nearly 
2000 negroes, yielding him annually about $80,000.^ 

To this community. May 2, 1791, came the great President. 
The account of Washington's reception is interesting. It shows 
the great man, as he was, the personification of dignity; and it 
helps us to understand the people of Charleston and their ways — 
the environment which affected those subjected to it. The Com- 
mittee of Council to make arrangements consisted of the Honorable 
Amoldus Vander Horst, Intendant, Colonel Mitchell, Mr. Morris, 
Mr. Corbett and Mr. Marshall. Sixty pounds, or about $300, was 
applied to the hiring of the house of Thomas Heyward, Esquire, 
together with the furniture, a housekeeper and servants. A 
barge was procured and lengthened. It was to be manned by 
twelve masters of American vessels in port as a volunteer crew. 



^ So. Ca. Gazette, Dec. 6, 1790. 

2 "Hon. Charles Pinckney, LL.D., No. 2," by W. S. E. of S. C, written for De 
Bow's Review Pamphlets, July and August, 1864, Ser. 5, Vol. 7, Charleston Library 
Society. 



8 INTRODUCTORY 

handsomely dressed at their own expense. These elected to clothe 
themselves in "sky-blue jackets." This barge was to be pre- 
sented to the great man at Haddrel's Point for his conveyance to 
the city by the Recorder, who, in his official robes, should there 
await his arrival. 

Promptly at the day and hour named, General Moultrie, Gen- 
eral Pinckney and the Honorable John B. Holmes, the Recorder, 
in his official robes, met the President at Haddrel's Point, where 
they embarked and, accompanied by a flotilla, crowded with 
cheering passengers and from which two bands were discoursing 
music, proceeded across the harbor to the foot of Queen Street, 
where steps had been arranged and where the President was met 
by the Governor, the Intendant, the City Council and the State 
Society of the Cincinnati. 

However the Governor may have been attired, he must have 
appeared to the public as a somewhat inconsiderable personage, 
in contrast with the imposing presence of the Intendant and 
Wardens, each of whom carried a black varnished wand three- 
quarters of an inch in diameter and six feet long; those of the 
Wardens headed in silver and that of the Intendant in gold, on 
which were inscribed the ciphers C.C.L, What the Governor 
said, does not appear; but his Honor the Intendant addressed the 
distinguished guest as follows: "The Intendant and Wardens beg 
leave, sir, to welcome you to this city. It will be their care to make 
your stay agreeable — they have provided accommodations for 
yourself and suite to which they will be happy to conduct you." 

The Father of his Country calmly replied that he was ready to 
attend them and would follow, and the procession moved forward 
in the following order : — 

City Sheriff (with mace). 

Messenger and Marshall. 

Treasurer and Clerk. 



INTRODUCTORY 9 

Recorder. 

Wardens with their wands (two and two). 

The Intendant. 

President and suite.* 
By rare good fortune the Reverend Isaac Stockton Keith, late 
of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who had arrived with his wife 
at Charleston three years previous, was present, and with her 
assistance prepared an account, in which appear details more notice- 
able to outsiders and impressions more interesting than such as 
might be recorded by a native; to wit, the "sky-blue jackets," 
above. 

To begin with, we are informed, it was a serene and beautiful 
morning, and on such the harbor, alone, is a sight worth seeing; 
but on this festive occasion all the vessels in port had out their 
bunting, a guard of militia was in attendance at the landing, there 
was a loud peal of huzzas from the crowd and a feu de joie by the 
corps of artillery. 

The procession included the different orders of citizens, whose 
stations had been previously assigned by lot, except the clergy, to 
whom the honor was given of walking next after the President and 
principal officers of government and foreign ministers. The march 
was to the Exchange, where the President, accompanied by the 
Governor and those who immediately followed, including the 
clergy, ascended the steps to a platform, at "that elegant building," 
at which point there was another /ew de joie, and the rest of the 
procession passed by, having the honor of seeing and saluting the 
President and receiving the honors of his bows and smile. Later 
during the visit, says the Reverend Keith, "there was a grand ball, 
that the ladies might have an opportunity of enjoying his presence 
among them, of paying their respects and testifying their love and 
admiration and also of displaying their charms of beauty and dress 

' Charleston Year Book, 1883, p. 503 ; Keith's Works, p. 428. 



lo INTRODUCTORY 

before him." With regard to which last, our informant says he 
has been "told that the ornaments provided for the embellishments 
of the lovely persons of our fair citizens were extremely rich and 
superb, and probably," he adds, "in many degrees above the taste 
of so plain a Virginia planter as the worthy George Washington." ^ 

Taking up again the newspaper account of the day, we learn 
that the Intendant and Wardens, having installed the President 
in Mr. Thomas Heyward's house, retired to the Council Chamber 
and "Ordered: That the Recorder do wait on the President of 
the United States to know when he would be pleased to receive 
the corporation with their address;" and that mercurial official, 
being despatched on his mission, returned with the announcement 
that the President, at three o'clock next day, would receive them. 
The first day the President dined with the Governor and a few 
select friends. 

By a familiar visitor, we are informed, that the collection of 
statuettes, medals, etc., in the house in which the Governor en- 
tertained Washington, rendered it almost a museum ; that his fine 
library, occupying an entire suite of three rooms, contained many 
thousand volumes of the most rare and choice books, collected from 
every quarter, and near a score of splendid paintings, and these 
rooms overlooked a garden of choicest flowers.^ The whole of 
this large mansion was, on a subsequent occasion, thrown open to 
the public; but on this first occasion it was Washington and his 
particular friends that the Governor entertained. 

On the following day the city authorities waited upon the Presi- 
dent with their address, which the Intendant read and presented. 
It is a production quite suited to the occasion : — 

» Keith's Works, p. 428. 

* "Charles Pinckney, LL.D., No. 2," by W. S. E. of S. C, written for De 
Bow's Review Pamphlets, July and August, 1864, Ser. 5, Vol. 2, No. 10, Charles- 
ton Library Society. 



INTRODUCTORY II 

" To THE President of the United States : — 

" Sir : The Intendant and Wardens representing the citizens 
of Charleston find themselves particularly gratified by your arrival 
in the metropolis of the State. It is an event the expectation of 
which they have for some time with great pleasure indulged. When 
in the person of the Supreme Magistrate of the United States they 
recognize the Father of the People and the defender of the liberties 
of America, they feel a particular satisfaction in declaring their 
firm persuasion that they speak the language of their constituents 
in asserting that no body of men throughout this extensive conti- 
nent can exceed them in attachment to his public character or in 
revering his private virtues, and they do not hesitate in anticipat- 
ing those blessings which must be ultimately diffused amongst the 
inhabitants of these States from his exertions for their general 
welfare, aided by those in whom they have also vested a share of 
their confidence. Go on, sir, as you have done, continue to possess 
as well as to deserve the love and esteem of all your fellow-citizens 
while millions in other parts of the globe, though strangers to your 
person, shall venerate your name. May you long be spared to 
receive those marks of respect which you so entirely merit from 
a grateful people, and may all who live under your auspices continue 
to experience that freedom and happiness which is so universally 
acknowledged to have proceeded from your wise, judicious and pru- 
dent administration. 

"Arnold us Vander Horst Intendant." 

To this the great Washington, with that splendid balance which 
ever held him first among his contemporaries, responded : — 

" Gentlemen : The gratification you are pleased to express at my 
arrival in your metropolis is replied to with sincerity, in a grateful 
acknowledgment of the pleasing sensations which your affectionate 
urbanity has excited. Highly sensible of your attachment and 



12 INTRODUCTORY 

favorable opinion, I entreat you to be persuaded of the lasting grati- 
tude which they impress and of the cordial regard with which they 
are returned. It is the peculiar boast of our country, that her 
happiness is alone dependent on the collective wisdom and virtue 
of her citizens, and rests not on the exertions of any individual. 
Whilst a just sense is entertained of their natural and political 
advantages, we cannot fail to improve them and with the progress 
of our national importance to combine the freedom and felicity 
of individuals. I shall be particularly gratified in observing the 
happy influence of public measures on the prosperity of your city, 
which is so much entitled to the regard and esteem of the American 
Union." 

Upon this response the City Council retired, and the merchants 
came forward with their address, to which the President again 
made answer, attuning the same to a slightly minor key; and then 
came the public dinner, at six shillings for each person, and the 
best Madeira wine at five shillings a bottle. 

The next day the President dined with the Governor again, 
but in public, and on the next with that descendant of the House 
of Ormonde, who had given up the King's commission to serve 
as Adjutant-General of South Carolina, in the Revolutionary War, 
and at the time of the visit represented the State in the United 
States Senate. 

And so from day to day through the week. His portrait, it was 
arranged, was to be painted for his hosts, and still adorns the 
Council Chamber; he attended divine service at St. Philip's and 
St. Michael's, and when finally escorted to the city limits by the 
Intendant and Wardens and thanked upon the occasion of his 
departure, returned his thanks with the statement that should it 
ever be in his power it would give him pleasure "to visit this very 
respectable city." 



INTRODUCTORY 13 

That he was pleased with his visit to the State we may assume 
on the characterization of the manner of his entertainment, near 
Georgetown, by Colonel WilHam Alston, "which he pronounced to 
be truly Virginian." ^ Could praise rise higher? Possibly, for 
he declared of his host's plantation that "he had seen nothing in 
all his travels so justly entitled to be called a fairy-land as the rice- 
fields of the Waccamaw in the genial month of May." And this 
compHment, related to the subject of this sketch, was preserved 
by him forty years later, in the discharge of a fihal duty to his 
father-in-law, who had told him of it. 

* " Obituary of Colonel William Alston," by Robert Y. Hayne in Charleston 
Mercury, July i, 1839. 



BOOK I 
PREPARATION 

CHAPTER I 

ROBERT Y. HAYNE'S PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS; THE 
POLITICS OF CHARLESTON AT THAT PERIOD 

John Hayne, the founder of the Hayne family in South Caro- 
lina, came to the Province in 1700, settling in Colleton County. 
Little is known of his antecedents save that his family had resided 
in Shropshire, England,^ three miles from Shrewsbury; that the 
name was not infrequently spelled Haynes ; and the arms, as given 
in Burke, were used at a very early period by the Hayne family in 
the Province. 

John Hayne, or Haynes, married Mary Deane, by whom he had 
eight children, from the eldest of whom descended the subject of 
this sketch; while from the seventh was descended Colonel Isaac 
Hayne, taken in arms and executed during the Revolutionary War 
by Lord Rawdon. 

John Hayne, the second, married Mary Edings, by whom he had 
four children, the third of whom, Abraham, was born in 1732 and 
was therefore thirteen years the senior of his cousin. Colonel Isaac. 

Abraham married Susannah Brantford, by whom he had three 
children. It has been asserted that he, too, was captured and im- 
prisoned by the British authorities during the Revolutionary War; 

1 "The Hayne Family," by Theo. D. Jervey, Vol. 5, So. Ca. Hist. & Gen. 
Mag., p. 168. 

IS 



l6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the assertion being made as early as 1834/ a time at which there 
were still living participants in that struggle. And it has also been 
declared that he died about 1781 of fever, contracted aboard a 
prison-ship.^ If, as stated, he died in the arms of his son William, 
it is clear that the latter must have been a mere youth, as he was 
not born before 1766. This son William, the father of Robert Y. 
Hayne, died at fifty-one; yet, as his wife bore him, in the thirty- 
one years of his married life, fourteen children, two of whom 
attained distinction and prominence, he may be said to have con- 
tributed to the advancement of his section. Apart from his mar- 
riage to Elizabeth Peronneau, little is known of him; but that he 
must have been a man of recognized force and character is evinced 
by the fact of his election, at the age of twenty-three, as a mem- 
ber of the convention which framed the new constitution of the 
State, before alluded to, in the year just preceding the birth of his 
illustrious son. This son Robert, the fourth son and fifth child 
of William and Elizabeth Hayne, was born on the tenth day of 
November, in the year 1791. 

At that time, and for some time afterward, his father lived at 
Pon Pon plantation in Colleton District. 

The Christian and middle names of the child were derived from 
an uncle by marriage, a Scotchman, Dr. Robert Young, to the 
care of whose widow he was confided from the period of his birth 
until about his tenth year.^ Silent, thoughtful and self-controlled, 
he developed the quality of observation and the power of memory, 
in no way exhibiting any precocious traits. For nine years he 
lived at Beaufort, South Carolina; but in 1800 he came to Charles- 
ton, where he entered first the school of Mr. Mason and later that 
of Dr. John Smith. The reputation of the latter as a graduate of 

1 " National Portrait Gallery," Vol. 2, p. 8. 

* " Lives of Robert Young Hayne and Hugh Swinton Legare," by Paul H. 
Hayne, p. 16. ' Ibid., by Paul H. Hayne, p. 10. 



PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 17 

an European university and a classical scholar of some distinction, 
we find noted as late as 1878; but of the claims of the former, to 
the qualifications of an instructor of youth, there is only discover- 
able his advertisement in the daily press of the day : — 

"English School 
"Trott Street. 

"The exercises of this as well as the other schools under my 
direction recommence This Day. Hours of attendance for Young 
Ladies at my house in Quince Street from eleven until two. In- 
struction in Dancing, Music and in the French Language may be 
had in addition to the usual school exercises. Boarding, lodging 
and washing on the most reasonable terms, or Breakfast and Din- 
ners as may suit the convenience of those at a distance. 
"The public's most obedient 

"William Mason, A.M. 

"N.B. A classical Assistant wanted. One hundred and fifty 
guineas punctually paid, quarterly, and Boarding and Lodging in 
my family are offered a gendeman properly qualified. Apply at 
my house within the hours of 7 and 8 in the morning." ^ 

When it is realized that the above qualifications procured for 
their possessor, in addition to board and lodging with a genteel 
family, more than half again as much as was paid in salary to the 
circuit solicitors, then fixed at £100 apiece, and more than three- 
fifths the salary of the Attorney- General of the State, it affords a 
striking illustration of the desire for culture. 

During the nine years which had elapsed between Hayne's 
birth and arrival at Charleston, Arnoldus Vander Horst had suc- 
ceeded Charles Pinckney as Governor, and he, in turn, given way 
to General William Moultrie, who in 1796 had relinquished the 

' So. Ca. Gazette, June 2, 1800. 



i8 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



office to Charles Pinckney, for the third time, that extraordinarily 
gifted individual having just returned from an extended visit to 
Europe, where with letters from Washington and Franklin he 
had met the most distinguished men of the day ^ on terms of inti- 
macy. Sent to the United States Senate in 1798,^ he had been 
holding that office for two years and was in a position to observe 
that the strength of the Federalists, which had been on the ebb 
in the State ever since the adoption of the State Constitution, was 
also now distinctly waning in the nation. 

The city of Charleston seems, however, to have prospered under 
Federal politics. The customs had more than trebled, and upon 
one day, in the busy season, exclusive of coasters, as many as 1 1 7 ' 
sail were noted in the harbor. Regular lines to Cuba, Jamaica, 
England and France advertised their dates of sailing; while rum, 
logwood and mahogany logs, Bordeaux claret of a superior 
quality, silver and gilt watches, ladies' elegant gold watches, gentle- 
men's elegant gold watches, seals and silver knee buckles,^ were 
articles of ordinary import. From what was to be had at W. P. 
Young's book-store, 43 Broad Street, one obtains an idea of what 
was read: "Claim and Answer of Andrew Allen vs. United States 
under Treaty with Great Britain," Parks's "Travels in Africa," 
Gisbome's "Duty of Women," Robertson's "History of America," 



'Notes from his destroyed journal, kept during his visit, indicate: i. Dinner 
at M. Talleyrand's: Topics discussed: Persons present: Style of a French Dinner 
party. 

2. Names and description of several ladies with whom I conversed. A soiree : 
The style, grace and wit of the French. 

3. A day with Marbois and Marquis de Lafayette. French views of America. 

4. Memoranda of pictures, gardens and public buildings in Paris. 

5. Discussion at the club with M. Le Roy and Charles Arnould on the politics 
of America. 

6. A view of the French capital and the French people as seen by an American. 
Pamphlet W. S. E., possession of Charles Pinckney, Esq. 

^ Charleston Year Book, 1884, p. 338. 

'5o. Ca. Gazette, Jan. i, 1801. * Charleston Courier, July 3, 1800. 



PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 19 

Hume's " History of England down to 1783," Adams's "Defence 
of the American Constitutions," Count Rumford's "Essays," 
Gouvemeur Morris, S. S. Smith and Fisher Ames's orations; while 
for twelve and a half cents one could obtam " Alfred, a poem in 
blank verse written by a Carolinian, 18 years old, now a student of 
Yale college in Connecticut." Subscribers to Kotzebue's works 
were asked to call for sixth, seventh and eighth volumes ; while it is 
also announced that a translation from the German of his tragedy 
" Pizarro" and an adaptation of it to the English stage by Richard 
Brinsley Sheridan (first Charleston), twentieth London edition, 
w^as also to be had.^ For the display of histrionic talent there were 
the Charleston Theatre and Vauxhall Gardens; while upon Sulli- 
van's Island the managers of the former had just erected the South 
Carolina Lyceum. Golf, almost if not entirely unknown at this 
date elsewhere in America, was played on Harleston Green; but 
rougher forms of amusement were also indulged in at the Tivoli 
Gardens, the resort for picnics and bear fights.^ There was much 
wining and dining and parading; but, as the crack corps of cav- 
alry paraded at six o'clock in the morning, the soldiering was 
serious. Indeed, they were police, and most efficient on extreme 
occasions. On the escape of the Touheys from jail, it is related 
as an ordinary event that the troopers scattered through the country, 
and one horseman, chancing the shot with which his command 
to "halt" was received, cut down the armed convict and brought 
him in. 

Besides the school of Mr. Mason, before referred to, and the new 
academy of J. Smith, LL.D., there was the institution of J. J. 
Negrin, teacher of the French and English school at Archdale 
Street, and the Charleston College Grammar School.^ This last- 
named institution deserves particular mention from the fact that 

» So. Ca. Gazette, July i, 1800. ^ Charleston Year Book, 1896, p. 410. 

^ So. Ca. Gazette, Jan. i, 1800. 



20 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

it later developed into the college of that name, whose standard 
ranks to-day with the best educational institutions of the country; 
while the breadth and religious tolerance which has ever distin- 
guished it and the city which supported it was evidenced at that 
early period in the personnel of its instructors. The head was 
the Reverend Dr. Gallagher, a Roman Catholic priest, and his asso- 
ciates, the Reverend Dr. Buist of the Scotch Presbyterian Church 
and the Reverend Dr. Purcell, rectorof St. Michael's.* Interspersed 
with the above-mentioned advertisements were others, which read 
oddly enough at this date : " Public Auction — Nine valuable young 
negroes consisting of Two fellows excellent sawyers, trusty and 
honest. Two ditto Field slaves. One ditto, a good waiting man 
19 years old. One wench, a complete cook, washer and ironer, 
with her child 19 months old. One girl very handy about house 
12 years old. One ditto 11 years. Conditions cash in specie 
dollars at 4 shillings eight pence." Also "A nurse for Hire. A 
negro woman who has been for several years employed in nursing 
young children. She is sober, honest, and remarkably tender with 
her charges." ^ Besides these the continually recurring cut of a 
vagabond, with the accompanying "Ran away a negro fellow, 
etc." 

Whatever impression the reader might draw from the above, 
it must be borne in mind also that the Santee Canal, a great work 
for the time, was partially completed about this time and in opera- 
tion for some miles.^ At this period, and for some time previous, 
Charles Pinckney had been distinctly the strongest political in- 
fluence in the State. To his great speech twelve years prior, 
urging in convention the ratification of the Constitution of the 
United States by his own State, he had added another, almost 

' "Life and Times of William Lowndes," p. 38. 

' So. Ca. State Gazette, July 2, 1800. 

^ City Gazette, Sept. 19, 1S09. Ad. July 2, 1800; So. Ca. Gazette. 




CHARLES PINCKNEY. 



PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 21 

as remarkable in the Senate of the United States in the consideration 
and discussion of that instrument. The first discloses the mental 
force which, in the main, urged South Carolina to the Union; the 
second as distinctly marks the reaction, which inclined her to the 
views of Jefferson. Before any allusions are made to this impend- 
ing change, so clearly seen to be inevitable by the senator, a con- 
sideration even, in part, of the speech in which he advocated the 
adoption of the Constitution in 1788, will be enlightening. Any 
abridgment must do some injustice to that great argument ; but at 
least it may indicate, in some measure, the views of the man 
at that time of greatest influence in South Carolina, with regard 
to her connection with the Union. 

On that occasion he said : " We have been taught to believe that 
all power of right belongs to the people ; that it flows immediately 
from them, and is delegated to their officers for the public good; 
that our rulers are the servants of the people, amenable to their 
will and created for their use. . . . Without a precedent and 
with the experience of but a few years were the convention called 
upon to form a system for a people differing from all others we are 
acquainted with. The first knowledge necessary for us to acquire 
was a knowledge of the people, for whom the system was to be 
formed; for unless we were acquainted with their situation, their 
habits, opinions and resources, it would be impossible to form a 
government upon adequate or practicable principles. If we exam- 
ine the reasons which have given rise to the distinctions of rank 
that at present prevail in Europe, we shall find that none of them 
do or in all probability ever will exist in the Union. The only 
distinction that may take place is that of wealth. Riches no doubt 
will ever have their influence, and when they are suffered to increase 
to large amounts in a few hands then they may become dangerous 
to the public. . . . Those, however, are dangers that I think we 
have very little to apprehend for these reasons, one is from the 



22 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

destruction of the rights of primogeniture. ... In the Northern 
or Eastern States . . . laws have been long since passed in all of 
them destroying this right. . . . Another is that in the Eastern 
and Northern States the landed property is nearly equally divided, 
very few having large bodies, and there are few of them that have 
not small tracts. . . . The people of the Union may be classed 
as follows: Commercial men who will be of consequence or not 
in the political scale as commerce may be made an object of the 
attention of government. As far as I am able to judge, and pre- 
suming that proper sentiments will ultimately prevail upon this 
subject, it does not appear to me that the commercial line will 
ever have much influence in the politics of the Union. Foreign 
Trade is one of the enemies against which we must be extremely 
guarded, more so than against any other, as none will ever have 
a more unfavorable operation. I consider it as the root of our 
present public distress, as the plentiful source from which our 
future national calamities will flow, unless great care is taken to 
prevent it. Divided as we are from the old world, we should 
have nothing to do with their politics and as little as possible with 
their commerce — they can never improve and must inevitably 
corrupt us. . . . Another distinguishing feature in our union is 
its division into individual states, differing in extent of territory, 
manners, population and products." Elaborating this, he indicates 
a knowledge so exact as to be most surprising in that day of poor 
travelling facilities. But his consideration of the various govern- 
mental experiments is still more surprising. "The inconveniences 
which too frequently attend these differences in habits and opinion 
among the citizens that compose the Union are not a little increased 
by the variety of their State governments; for as I have already 
observed, the constitutions or laws under which a people live never 
fail to have a powerful effect upon their manners — we know that 
all the States have adhered in their forms to the republican principle 



PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 23 

though they have differed widely in their opinions of the mode best 
calculated to preserve it. In Pennsylvania and Georgia the whole 
powers of government are lodged in a legislative body of a single 
branch, over which there is no control; nor are their executives 
or judicials from their connection and necessary dependence on 
the legislature capable of strictly executing their respective offices. 
In all the other States except Maryland, Massachusetts and New 
York they are only so far improved as to have a legislature with 
two branches which completely involve and swallow up all the 
powers of their governments. In neither of them are the judicial 
or executive placed in that firm or independent situation which 
can alone secure the safety of the people or the just administration 
of the laws. In Maryland one branch of the Legislature is a 
Senate chosen for five years by electors chosen by the people. 
The knowledge and firmness which this body have upon all occa- 
sions displayed, not only in the exercise of their legislative duties 
but in withstanding and defeating such of the projects of the other 
house as appeared to them founded in local and personal motives 
have long since convinced me that the Senate of Maryland is the 
best model of a senate that has yet been offered to the Union; 
that it is capable of correcting many of the vices of the other parts 
of their Constitution and in a great measure atoning for those de- 
fects which in common with the States I have mentioned are but 
too evident in their execution — the want of stability and inde- 
pendence in the judicial and executive departments. In Massa- 
chusetts we find the principle of legislation more improved by the 
revisionary power which is given to their Governor and the inde- 
pendence of the Governor. In New York the same improvement 
in legislation has taken place as in Massachusetts ; but here from 
the executive being elected by the great body of the people, 
holding his office for three years and being reeligible, — from the 
appointments to office being taken from the legislature and placed 



24 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

in a select council, — I think the Constitution is upon the whole the 
best in the Union." After an allusion to recent disorders and 
abuse of power in Rhode Island and the check administered to 
same in Massachusetts, which he cites as affording an apt illustra- 
tion of the advantage to be derived from republican institutions 
where enjoyed by States of great extent and population, he reaches 
the most important point of his consideration which he signalizes 
with this declaration: "In every government there necessarily 
exists a power from which there is no appeal and which for that 
reason may be termed absolute and incontrollable. The person or 
assembly in whom this power resides is called the sovereign, or 
supreme power of the State. With us the sovereignty of the 
Union resides in the people. ... In their individual capacities 
as citizens the people are proportionately represented in the House 
of Representatives ... the States . . . will find in the Senate the 
guards of their rights as political associations. On them, I mean 
the State systems, rests the general fabric . . . each depending 
upon, supporting and protecting the other ; nor, so intimate is the 
connection, can the one be removed without prostrating the other, 
like the head and body separate them, and they die." Then after 
enumerating some of the advantages of republican institutions, he 
inquires: "On what depends the enjoyment of these rare ines- 
timable privileges — on the firmness, on the power of the Union to 
protect and defend them. ... It must be obvious that without 
a superintending government it is impossible the liberties of the 
country can long be secured. . . . Let us then be careful in 
strengthening the Union." And calling on the States to "dedicate 
a part of the advantages to that government from which they re- 
ceived them," * he asserts his opinion that the State will find it in 
consonance with her advantages, her safety and her honor to ratify 
the Constitution. 

* State Gazette, June 9, 1788. 



PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 2$ 

Pinckney's objection to the multiplication of office in the person 
of one individual is in no manner contradictory to the above, and 
to the construction of some of the powers of the executive as made 
apparent by the acts of Adams, he at this later time interposed 
objection. His "bill to prevent the judges of the United States 
from accepting or holding any other office, while they continued 
as judges,"^ was brought about by Adams's appointment of the 
Chief Justice of the United States as envoy extraordinary to France. 
In support of it he delivered a powerful speech ; but on a full vote 
it was lost by two votes. This speech, delivered at the close of the 
session and the senator's advocacy of Jefferson, aroused the Federal- 
ists of Charleston. The organ of that faction gives this account 
of the celebration of the Fourth of July: "Friday last was the 
24th anniversary of American Independence. It was honored and 
celebrated by the citizens of Charleston with grateful joy and re- 
spect. Federal salutes from the forts and the ringing of bells 
announced the dawn and were repeated throughout the day. 
The American flag was displayed on the forts and the shipping. 
The regiments of Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry paraded and were 
reviewed by his honor the Lieutenant-Governor, Brigadier-General 
Vander Horst and a number of distinguished military and civil 
characters. The Cincinnati and Revolutionary Societies assem- 
bled and walked in procession to St. Philip's Church. Prayers 
were read by the Right Reverend Bishop Smith, and an elegant and 
perspicuous oration commemorative of the day was pronounced 
by the Honorable John Julius Pringle of the Revolutionary Society. 
The memory of the illustrious Washington and his distinguished 
services were brought to view in an affecting manner. The name 
of John Adams, our worthy President, was dwelt on with emphatic 
praise and gratitude for that immortal Declaration of Independence 
which was with manly firmness proposed by him in the Colonial 

' City Gazette, July 2, 1800. 



26 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Congress of '76 and carried into execution and supported to the 
present day with exemplary patriotism and consistency. Thomas 
Jefferson was accredited for the elegance of language with which 
it was clothed; and much more that he never merited, for that 
excepted, the American people are unacquainted with any acts 
which can exalt him or benefit them. The different societies 
dined together, and the day closed socially and with harmony as it 
commenced." ^ 

But it so happened that one writing under the nom de plume 
" Americanus," entertaining a somewhat different view of the public 
services of Jefferson, had, on the Fourth of July, in the City Gazette, 
called upon the public to remember him. Charles Pinckney seems 
to have been suspected of the authorship, and in the Courier that 
harmony alluded to is rudely broken with the following: "An 
eulogy in fustian bombastic burst forth in the City Gazette of the 
Fourth of July to the glory and praise of Thomas Jefferson. Amer- 
icans were called on to remember ! What ? That the persecuted 
Jefferson that day twenty-four years previous proposed the Decla- 
ration of Independence which made us free. Thus far the cloven- 
footed Americanus. But remember it was not the public weal that 
brought forth that manly, energetic, noble declaration. No, no, 
it was Jefferson's own private weal. That he might be free from 
his British debts." This was signed by "Truth" and followed 
by a bit of doggerel addressed "To the speech-writing, speech- 
making, speech-printing senator," with an explanatory footnote 
to the effect that "Charhe always writes his speeches, reads them 
aloud with a stentorian voice and has them printed." Then 
finally, that all may understand at whom this is aimed, we have the 
conclusion: "Charles Pinckney affirms that the Jacobins held a 
caucus after the adjournment of Congress, and the conclusion 
drawn by Charlie is that nought but death can prevent the Presi- 

* State Gazette & Timothys Daily Advertiser, July 7, 1800. 



PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 27 

dency of Jefferson." ^ To which may be added that he was borne 
out by subsequent events. 

These were the matters agitating the community when Robert 
Y. Hayne, a boy between nine and ten, made it his home ; and, as 
he grew in years, "a reflective, studious youth of gentle bearing 
and amiable manners, he won despite a certain reserve, the affec- 
tionate sympathy both of his master and his comrades." ^ His 
kinsman, the poet, tells us that "the favorable impression he 
produced in those earlier days was moral rather than mental." 
He also is authority for the statement that "a large proportion of 
his childhood and youth was spent in the country," and "rural 
labors and rural sports gave that peculiar vigor, firmness and 
elasticity to his physique, which enabled him afterward to ac- 
complish work which might have exhausted a feebler constitution." 
Instances of his pertinacity as a hunter and of his self-control and 
mental balance at a period far more superstitious than to-day are 
also cited by him as illustrative of unusual strength of character; 
but these days of youth swiftly passed. The progress of his edu- 
cation under Dr. Smith was interrupted by the removal of that 
gentleman from Charleston, and the pecuniary condition of the 
youth not admitting of a collegiate education, between the years 
of seventeen and eighteen, as a law student, he entered the office 
of the Honorable Langdon Cheves,^ at that time State senator from 
Charleston, or, as it was called, the Parish of St. Philip and St. 
Michael. These were the eight years of Jefferson's two adminis- 
trations, in the first four of which Charles Pinckney had been away 
as Minister to Spain, returning to be elected Governor for the fourth 
time in 1806.* During his absence his cousin, Charles Cotesworth, 
had unsuccessfully contested Jefferson's second candidacy, and 

' State Gazette, July 9, 1800. 

* "Hayne and Legare," by Paul H. Hayne, p. 11. 
8 O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 11. 

* So. Ca. Hist. 6^ Gen. Mag., Vol. 2, p. 147. 



28 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



during this term of Charles Pinckney as Governor, Madison's 
first candidacy. The fact that the Federal candidate for the 
Presidency, for two successive occasions, was a resident of the 
city of Charleston, was well calculated to turn the attention of 
the youth of that place to politics; and it is more than probable 
that in the meetings of the debating society which were held in 
the schoolroom of Mr. Michael O'Donovan, in Queen Street, and 
of which Hayne was a member, politics were discussed. A con- 
temporary, "a learned and eminent jurist," later writes: "In 
that society he took a leading part and seldom failed to speak on 
every question chosen for discussion. His views were so well 
arranged and to the point as to have much weight in the appointed 
debate, and if any unexpected question was started in it which 
claimed a prompt consideration, he seemed as ready to meet it as 
if it had formed the subject of inquiry." ^ Associations there were 
likely to have been the reverse of Federalistic and while never an 
extremist, his patron and adviser, then Attorney- General of the 
State and soon about to begin his brief but brilliant career in 
Congress, must have been more of a Republican than a Federalist. 
In the last of this year, 1809, John C. Calhoun was made an aide- 
de-camp of Governor Drayton; while William Lowndes, who with 
him and Cheves had distinguished himself in the Legislature, was 
so lightly esteemed by the citizens of Charleston as to be defeated 
by one William Turpin ^ in his candidacy to succeed Cheves as 
State senator from Charleston. Whether this was due to Lowndes's 
politics, which we are told nearly cost him his wife ^ (Major Thomas 
Pinckney doubting whether his daughter could be given in mar- 
riage to a Republican), or resulted from the fact of his being less 
well known to the rank and file of voters, is immaterial ; for if the 



1 O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 22. 

'^ Charleston Courier, March 17, 1809. 

* "Life and Times of William Lowndes," p. 59. 



PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 29 

Federal party still retained their strength in the city, it was dead 
in the State and nation; while Madison, by sending to the Senate 
the name of John Quincy Adams as Minister to Russia, was split- 
ting it even in Massachusetts; for although at first rejected, in 
March, by a vote of 17 to 15/ he persisted, and on July 7 forced 
him through by 19 to 7.^ The Adamses, father and son, then 
aligned themselves openly with the Republican party, and doubt- 
less it was the evidence of the spirit of secession in Massachusetts, 
recognized by them two years prior to the Massachusetts Declara- 
tion of Nullification, as much as the official appointment of John 
Quincy Adams, that brought them over to the administration. 
In Charleston, however, differences were less sharp, and Feder- 
alists and Republicans came together at a meeting held in St. 
Michael's Church "to evince confidence in the general govern- 
ment and their determination to support the Union, Constitution 
and rights of the country." ^ The committee appointed to draft 
resolutions consisted of Charles Pinckney, Keating L. Simons, 
Langdon Cheves, Peter Frenaud, Judge Gaillard, William Lough- 
ton Smith, Thomas Lee, John Blake, Major Thomas Pinckney, 
Dr. David Ramsay, Simon Magwood, William Lowndes, John 
Ward, Judge Johnson and John Geddes. These resolutions, 
transmitted to the President, were by him acknowledged Sept. 
20, 1809.^ From this time on the influence of Charles Pmck- 
ney, then in his fifty-third year, waned rapidly. In the twenty 
years in which his influence had been so pronounced, the white 
population had risen from 140,000 to 215,451, and the negro popu- 
lation from 108,000 to 209,919 in the State; while the population 
of Charleston, the fifth city of the Union, had increased from 
16,359 to 24,711.5 

* Courier, March 22, 1809. * Ibid., July 7, 1809. 
' Ihid., Aug. 30, 1809; City Gazette, Aug. 30, i8og. 

* City Gazette, Oct. 5, 1809. * Charleston Year Book, 1883, p. 393. 



3° 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



As early as 1800, Pinckney's remarkable views on Foreign 
Trade had begun to be questioned; for the subject noticed for 
debate at the "Debating Society meeting Saturday," July 5, 
1800, by the organ of his own faction, indicates it, "Is commerce 
productive of more advantages than manufactures are?" The 
embargo of 1808 had reduced the value of cotton exports from 
the city one-fourth ; ^ but as we have before seen, it did not 
prevent the citizens from coming together in support of the " Union, 
Constitution and rights of this country." The period was close 
at hand when the views of Langdon Cheves, William Lowndes 
and John C. Calhoun should influence the State and Union pro- 
foundly; but in all probability the individual then exerting the 
greatest impulse upon the thought of the State was the accom- 
plished and versatile Stephen Elliott, at that time in the morning 
splendor of his mental development. Of him it could be truly 
said that such was the felicity of expression and purity of his 
style that he could clothe the driest details of science with a beauty 
as rare as attractive. To the young law student, seeking for 
knowledge, this mine of information was invaluable, and from it 
he drew supplies which enabled him in the future to build greatly. 

In all that pertained to a metropolitan city of that date, includ- 
ing an excellent stock company at the theatre, Charleston kept 
pace with the largest cities of the Union. Yet there is an inde- 
pendence of view greatly to the credit of the city, indicated in 
the announcement that the Charleston College contained at that 
time no pupils, viz., that the trustees of the institution did not 
desire that it should have more than 30 pupils to each teacher.^ 

With regard to the negro population in the State, investigation 
reveals some curious opinions held by the ruling whites of that 
day. At the May sessions presided over by Judge Smith, we 
note these sentences, imposed no doubt strictly in compliance 

• Courier, April 13, 1809. ^ Ibid., July 12, 1809. 



PARENTAGE, BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 31 

with the law, by one famed for his debVerances upon the subject 
of negro slavery, later in the United States Senate: "James 
Handon, for killing a negro, fined ;^5o." "George Burns and 
Robert Welch, negro stealers, to be hanged." * Yet two years 
prior we read the following short but extremely pointed statement 
of a case decided by the constitutional court at Columbia: "In- 
dictment for an assault in Greenville district. David Burden, a 
man of color, but born of a free white woman, was offered as a 
witness to give evidence in support of the prosecution, and was 
refused to be admitted by the judge who presided. On motion it 
was determined in this court by all the judges that any person 
of color, if the issue of a free white woman, is entitled to give evi- 
dence, and ought to be admitted as a witness in our courts." ^ 
Nevertheless the committee to whom was referred a petition in 
the close of the year 1809, from the free negroes and mulattoes of 
Charleston, to the Legislature, the prayer of which was apparently 
the repeal of the capitation tax, simply reported "that it would 
be extremely impolitic to extend to that class of the population an \ 
exemption from the capitation tax." ^ 

^ Courier, May 27, 1809. 

* State vs. McDowell, 2 Brevard's Reports, p. 145. 

' Journal of the House of Representatives, S.C., Nov. 27, 1809. 



CHAPTER II 

THE GENESIS OF NULLIFICATION 

In his " History of the United States," Elson says : "In the spring 
of 1810 the American Congress removed the restrictions on foreign 
commerce, but forbade intercourse with England or France if 
either continued hostile to our trade. . . . Napoleon had issued 
his Rambouillet Decree, confiscating all American ships found in 
French waters. But on learning of this act of Congress, he 
offered to revoke his Berlin and Milan decrees." ^ Napoleon 
was suspected of duplicity; but his attitude was not as arrogant 
as that of Great Britain. 

Says Elson : " On the partial opening of our trade with France, 
British armed vessels were again sent to blockade New York, and 
amused themselves capturing vessels bound for France and im- 
pressing American seamen. . . . The Twelfth Congress met in 
December, 181 1, It differed greatly from its immediate prede- 
cessors. No longer do we find the temporizing spirit ; no longer 
was Congress dominated by the fathers of the Revolution. A new 
generation had arisen to take charge of public affairs. . . . The 
leaders of this new school were Henry Clay of Kentucky and 
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina." He goes on to state that 
they were ably seconded by Felix Grundy of Tennessee and 
Langdon Cheves and William Lowndes of South Carolina, to 
which is appended a note that Clay had served a short time as 
senator; but this was his first entrance into the House. 

1 Elson, "History of the United States," Vol. 3, pp. 4, 7 and 9. 

32 



THE GENESIS OF NULLIFICATION 33 

Clay and Cheves had both played a notable part in the closing 
hours of the Eleventh Congress. In the Senate, entering Decem- 
ber 13, 1810/ Clay had pushed through the Orleans territory bill ^ 
and censured Pickering of Massachusetts ^ for a palpable viola- 
tion of the rules of the Senate, for the latter's publication of a 
confidential communication from the President. Cheves did not 
take his seat in the House until Jan. 24, 1811,^ and therefore 
was not present when the even more distinguished representative 
of Massachusetts attacked the Orleans bill with his famous seces- 
sion speech ; but he was present on the occasion of the discussion 
concerning the non-intercourse bill, from the passage of which 
flowed such remarkable sequelae in Massachusetts in the same 
year. Judged by the utterances of her most distinguished men 
in Congress, Massachusetts was fairly seething with the spirit of 
secession. Joseph B. Varnum of Massachusetts was Speaker of 
the House, and Josiah Quincy the most distinguished member. 
On the bill, to enable the people of the territory of Orleans to 
form a Constitution and State government, and for the admission 
of such State into the Union, the eloquent member from Massa- 
chusetts, Mr. Quincy, declared: "It is my deliberate opinion 
that if this bill passes, the bonds of the Union are virtually dis- 
solved; that the States which compose it are free from their 
moral obligations; and as it will be the right of all, so it will be 
the duty of some, to prepare definitely for a separation, amicably 
if they can, violently if they must." ^ For this he was called 
to order by Mr. Poindexter of the Mississippi Territory. Mr. 
Quincy repeated and justified the remark. Mr. Poindexter re- 
quired the decision of the Speaker, and Mr. Quincy, somewhat 

' Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 4, p. 252. 

* Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 313. ^ Courier, Jan. 14, 181 1. 

* Charleston Year Book, 1884, p. 343. 

' Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 4, p. 327 ; Courier, Jan. 31, 1811. 

D 



34 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



scornfully, joined in the request. The Speaker decided he was 
not in order. Mr. Quincy appealed from the decision, and it 
was reversed by 56 to 53. The contrast between this vote and 
the idea of the Union entertained by Charles Pinckney, as indi- 
cated by his great speech of 1788, is striking. Quincy was ex- 
tremely elated at the indorsement of his views. He spoke of a 
separation of the States on the passage of the bill as absolutely 
inevitable.^ In a lengthy argument, he contended that the Con- 
stitution of the United States was a political compact, securing 
certain rights to each as partners in an association established by 
the States.^ 

These views of Quincy must have attracted notice. He him- 
self proudly declares in the speech, "These observations are 
not made in a corner;" and certain it is that the speech was 
spread out in full in the Federal Courier of Charleston, where 
the young law student Hayne could easily read it, whether at 
that time he sympathized with the view or not. Langdon Cheves 
was not at the time of its delivery in Congress; but he took his 
seat in time to hear Quincy' s attack on the non-intercourse bill, 
and to reply to that. This speech of Cheves does not appear in 
the abridgment of the debates, although allusion to the " ingenious 
argument" of "an honorable gentleman from South Carolina 
(Mr. Cheves), whom I am very much inclined to respect," does.^ 
Mr. Cheves stated that he was not very greatly impressed with 
the bill; but favored it because "it would precipitate us upon a 
particular enemy, and that the country required." ^ As "it would 
have been suicidal to fight both England and France," and " France 
presented no vulnerable point," there was some merit in the act 
which precipitated us against but one, and more discretion than 



' Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 4, p. 327. 

' Ibid., Vol. 4, pp. 328, 329. ^ Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 391. 

* Courier, Feb. 19, 181 1. 



THE GENESIS OF NULLIFICATION 35 

that which might have followed upon the adoption of Quincy's 
suggestion "to show ourselves really independent; and look to a 
grateful, a powerful and then united people for support against 
every aggressor." But Cheves was not content with the argu- 
ment of expediency ; he showed that it was not, as Gardenier, an 
opponent argued, "when either of the belligerents shall cease to 
violate our rights," but "when either of the belligerents shall so 
revoke or modify edicts, as they the edicts shall cease to violate, 
etc."; while taking up the contention of Quincy that the "de- 
crees were not revoked because they were fundamental laws of 
the Empire and the alleged revocation, but the act of a minister," 
he asserted: "It is necessary for the gentleman to prove that it 
is not equally high as authority; I deny it is not: France is a 
despotism . . . when such is the case, what do you want but a 
declaration ... no man doubts its supremacy." By an over- 
whelming majority the bill became law; but it provoked the 
Faneuil Hall meeting nullification resolutions. 

These resolutions have been treated with great tenderness by 
both Webster and McMaster. It has been claimed no force was 
threatened. 

Forcible resistance was distinctly threatened. In spite of 
Quincy's threat of secession, the enactment of the bill "to per- 
mit the people of Orleans territory to elect a convention to form 
a Constitution, preparatory to its admission into the Union," 
created no excitement. Even the debate on the amendment by 
the Senate, inserting the word "white" ^ before "free male in- 
habitants," lacked fire. Fisk of New York did speak against it. 
He claimed "that in almost all the States, free persons, whether 
black or white or colored, if they had the proper qualifications 
otherwise, were allowed to vote . . . color was a mere matter of 
accident. ... All men were born free and equal," etc. To 

^ Courier, Feb. 27, 181 1. 



36 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



which Sheffey of Virginia briefly replied "that such doctrines 
would prostrate the civil institutions of Virginia," and that seemed 
to end it. But the passage of the non-intercourse act stirred New 
England. On March 30, at Faneuil Hall, Boston, there was a 
meeting at which a preamble and numerous resolutions were 
adopted, from which the following extracts give some idea of the 
temper of the people of that section: "Whereas the government 
of the United States . . . has for many years past manifested a 
disposition alarmingly hostile to that commerce, on which the 
prosperity of the New England States essentially depends, but 
most eminently by the late act of Congress, which under the 
pretence of coercing the only European nation with whom we 
have any safe or honorable intercourse, inflicts a deadly wound 
upon the commerce of our country. . . . And whereas the only 
remedy left us, short of an appeal to force, is a change of our 
national rulers, and this important measure can only be effected 
by a corresponding change in the administration of the State, 
therefore be it resolved: That . . , 6th, that the act of May, 
1810, presupposed an honest, unequivocal, unconditional repeal 
of all the belligerent decrees, not consisting in promise only, but 
in actual and effective performance. Every citizen had a right 
to so construe that act and to govern his conduct accordingly. 
Any law which should have the effect to make such a just con- 
struction a crime, any act which should declare an event had 
taken place which had not happened and should proceed to 
punish, not those who should hereafter offend, but those who 
before innocently had judged according to the truth of facts, must 
not only be ex- post facto and void, but unjust, oppressive and 
tyrannical; lastly that such an unjust, oppressive and tyrannical 
act we consider the statute passed by Congress on the 2d of March 
instant, tending to the ruin or impoverishment of some of the most 
industrious and meritorious citizens of the United States, and that 



THE GENESIS OF NULLIFICATION 37 

the only means short of an appeal to force, to prevent such a 
calamity (which heaven avert), is the election of such men to the 
various offices in the State government as will oppose by peace- 
able but firm measures the execution of laws, which, if persisted 
in, must and will be resisted." ^ 

This was a claim to construe a Federal statute, decide it null 
and void, and a threat of forcible resistance to any attempt to put 
it in operation. Nullification could go no farther, and never did. 

An examination of the numerous and argumentative resolutions 
passed at this meeting discloses a perceptible irritation against an 
argument on the line of that of Cheves. These resolutions were 
set out in full in the Charleston Courier, as well as an attempt to 
show, some three months later,^ that forcible resistance was not 
contemplated. It is an interesting fact that just about this time, 
in South Carolina, the grand jury of his district, in their present- 
ment, congratulated the town of Greenville on the elevation to 
the bench ^ of that judge who, from it, made probably the strong- 
est argument against nullification ever made in South Carolina. 
Abraham Nott, born in Connecticut in 1767,^ had left that State 
in 1788, immediately upon his graduation at Yale, had been 
admitted to the bar of South Carolina in 1791, and represented 
the State as a Federalist congressman in 1800, voting awhile for 
Burr in preference to Jefferson; but on the thirty-sixth ballot 
Nott withdrew, and thus permitted Jefferson to be elected.^ 

In December, 181 1, William Lowndes and John C. Calhoun 
took their seats in the new Congress, of which Clay was made 
Speaker. Cheves, having already made his mark, was given the 
chairmanship of the important committee on Naval Establish- 



^ Courier, April 23, 1811. ^ Ibid., June 28, 1811. 

^ Ibid., May 28, 181 1. 

* O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. i, p. 121. 

* Ibid., Vol. I, p. 121 ; City Charleston Year Book, 1884, p. 342. 



38 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

ment;^ but both Calhoun and Lowndes made their influence 
felt also. Calhoun notably so by a powerful speech in reply to 
Randolph and in support of the report of the committee on For- 
eign Relations, of which he was a member. 

But it was again upon the matter with which Cheves was mainly 
concerned that Quincy took occasion to express himself, and a 
remarkable expression it certainly is. "I confess to you, Mr. 
Speaker, I never can look — indeed, in my opinion no x^merican 
statesman ought ever to look — on any question touching the 
vital interests of this nation, or of any of its component parts 
without keeping at all times in distinct view the nature of our 
political association, and the character of the independent sov- 
ereignties which compose it. Among States the only sure and 
permanent bond of union is interest. And the vital interests of 
the States, although they may sometimes be obscured, can never, 
for a very long time, be misapprehended. The natural protection 
which the essential interests of the great component parts of our 
political association require, will be sooner or later understood by 
the States concerned in those interests. If a protection upon sys- 
tems be not provided, it is impossible that discontent should not 
result. And need I tell statesmen that when great local discon- 
tent is combined in those sections with great physical power, 
and acknowledged portions of sovereignty, the inbred ties of 
nature will be too strong for the artificial ties of parchment com- 
pact?"^ It must be remembered that Quincy was esteemed at 
this time the ablest Federalist in Congress, and his speeches were 
spread out in full in the Charleston Courier. He seems to have 
supported the bill for the naval establishment; but what is to be 
understood from this declaration to his constituents? "While I 
am at this point, I cannot refrain from noticing a strange solecism 

* Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 4, p. 477. 
' Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 499. 



THE GENESIS OF NULLIFICATION 39 

which seems to prevail touching the term 'flag.' It is talked 
about as though there was something mysterious in its very nature, 
as though a rag with certain stripes and stars upon it tied to a 
stick, and called a flag, was a wizard's wand and entailed security 
on everything under it or within its sphere." ^ Where such ex- 
pressions were listened to, it is scarcely surprising that old John 
Adams, supporting the administration, was termed an "apostate." 

The Federalists of Charleston were also opposed to the war; 
but they did not carry their opposition so far. Nevertheless, at a 
non-partisan meeting, where they had the brains, although their 
opponents the majority, by a cleverly drawn amendment, pre- 
pared by Keating L. Simons, they almost succeeded in stripping 
the resolutions in support of same of any force. Yet by indiscreet 
comment a clever young Federalist, who had participated, drew 
down upon himself the prophecy that, politically, he had slain 
himself. 

The disclosures of the Henry letters probably did something 
to cool Quincy's fire; for on the admission of Louisiana, by a 
vote of 79 to 23, he seems to have made no further comment on 
the separation, which he had declared was inevitable, should it 
come to pass, and on June 3, Mr. Calhoun from the committee 
on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the message of the 
President, made a report, stating at large the causes and reasons 
of a war with Great Britain, and by a vote of 78 to 45 war was 
declared. The three representatives from South Carolina, — Cal- 
houn, Cheves and Lowndes — were after the Speaker, Clay, the 
leading members of the House; but D. R. Williams also had 
acquired influence. In a committee of the whole, Cheves not in- 
frequently carried the House in opposition to Clay; but neither 
Lowndes, Williams nor he was as close to the administration 
party as Calhoun. Indeed, all three of these declined to attend 

* Courier, Feb. 28, 181 2. 



40 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the caucus * which renominated Madison, which Calhoun did 
attend, and the ground they gave, or one of the grounds, was 
that a caucus of a party, at which 82 were present and 96 absent, 
was not representative of the party. 

At the approach of war, Hayne, although he had not yet at- 
tained his majority, his examination for admission was approach- 
ing, and with the death of Mr. Cheves's partner much extra work 
must have been thrown upon him, enlisted in the Charleston Cadet 
Infantry, of which Keating L. Simons was captain, and within a 
month after the declaration of war he was made a lieutenant. 
His brother, Arthur P. Hayne, had two years previous risen to the 
grade of captain in the regular army, and was to see service and 
win the commendation and affectionate regard of Andrew Jack- 
son; but the younger brother saw no active service. There 
seems to have existed an impression that even at this early period 
he delivered a notable speech before the assembled troops; but 
this has evidently been confounded with his offering a toast to the 
American soldier, which indicates quite a familiarity with Ossian, 
a year later when he was chosen orator of the '76 society to speak 
July 4, 1814; but in this year, 181 2, he must have been too much 
occupied. He must have been admitted to the bar in October 
of that year; for Mr. Cheves's partner having died October i, 
by the 17th the two following notices appear: — 

"The law business of the late Amos B. Northrop has been put 
into the hands of Mr. Robert Y. Hayne, attorney at law, from 
whom clients will receive every necessary information. . . . 

" Claudia M. Northrop, Administratrix, 
" Richard Cunningham, Administrator." 

" The subscriber will continue the business of Langdon Cheves, 
Cheves and Northrop and the late A. B. Northrop on his own 

^ Courier, May 30, 181 2. 



THE GENESIS OF NULLIFICATION 41 

account at the office lately occupied by Mr. Northrop, 36 Meet- 
ing Street. Clients are requested to call and make such arrange- 
ments as they may think proper. 

" Robert Y. Hayne." ^ 

A month before his majority, therefore, Hayne was launched in 
his career as a lawyer, having succeeded to the business of the 
most prosperous lawyer in Charleston, then just having been re- 
elected to Congress over John Rutledge, the son of the Dictator. 

As chairman of the committee of Ways and Means and of the 
select committee on Naval Establishment, Cheves wielded an in- 
fluence in Congress second only to Clay, if second at all to any 
one, and with Lowndes and Calhoun, his illustrious associates, 
he shared that influence in the politics of South Carolina which 
had been formerly wielded by Charles Pinckney, the founder of 
the Republican party in the State. As an indication of the num- 
ber of talented men at this period who interested themselves in 
politics, it may be mentioned that Lowndes was unsuccessfully 
opposed by that accomplished scholar, Stephen Elliott;^ while 
Benjamin Yancey of Edgefield entered the lists against Calhoun. 
The war fever was too strong, however, for the Federalists to hope 
for success. Their sentiments with regard to it were not the 
sentiments of the general mass. While they were toasting, " The 
war, however we may differ with regard to its expediency, we 
will lay down our lives in its support," ^ the Saucy Jack was 
being launched, pierced for 16 guns, and the first two cruises of 
this little privateer of 170 tons burden were somewhat calculated 
to establish the expediency of the struggle; for within the year 
she had captured 8 or 9 sail,^ one of them being the British ship 
Mentor, which she relieved of 60,000 pounds sterling. Farther 

' Charleston City Gazette, Oct. 17, 181 2. ' Ibid., July 16, 181 2. 

* Ihid., Oct. 19, 1812. * Ibid., Oct. 26, 1812. 



42 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

north, however, the war was not popular, and, upon the result 
being known of Clinton's defeat by Madison for the Presidency, 
the Connecticut Mirror published the following bit of doggerel: — 

"The day is past, the election's o'er, 
And Madison is king once more. 
Ye vagabonds of every land, 
Cut-throats and knaves, a patriot band; 
Ye demagogues, lift up your voice; 
Mobs and banditti, all rejoice." ' 

On the reproduction of this by the Federalist Courier, a cor- 
respondent in the City Gazette alludes to that journal as "this 
debased and degraded paper, the Courier." Madison's gentle 
retort to the opposition member, who, at the launch of the Adams, 
remarked, "What a pity the ship of state doesn't glide as smoothly 
as this vessel does," described the situation better, "It would, 
sir, if her crew would do their duty as well." 

That the bulk of Mr. Cheves's clients must have been content 
to intrust their affairs to young Hayne, is evidenced by the fact 
that within six months of his admission to the bar he appeared 
as counsel in four cases before the constitutional Court of appeals.^ 
In the first as associate counsel, in the second as leading counsel, 
in the other two, alone. But he finds time now also for other 
interests. A project being launched having for its purpose the 
honoring of a young Carolinian naval lieutenant, particularly 
recommended by Captain Lawrence of the Hornet for his be- 
havior on the occasion of her encounter with the Peacock, the 
young man having also been aboard the Constitution during her 
action with both the Guerrihre and the Java, the name of the 
over-zealous young Federalist, before mentioned, J. W. Toomer, 
is suggested with Keating L. Simons and R. Y. Hayne as a com- 
mittee to receive the popular contributions and purchase "the 

' City Gazette, Jan. 20, 1813. ^ Brevard's Reports, Vol, 13, pp. 342-379. 



THE GENESIS OF NULLIFICATION 



43 



elegant sword " * to be presented. The committee was com- 
posed of five members, three of whom at least were men some 
seven or eight years Hayne's seniors, — D. E. Huger, William 
Lance and Keating L. Simons, the last named being fully fifteen 
years older, a distinguished lawyer in his prime. That the young 
attorney, R. Y. Hayne, with H, H. Bacot ^ should have, there- 
fore, been placed on this committee, was a tribute to his popu- 
larity, especially as it appears efforts were not lacking in behalf 
of a clever young man of his own age, which were unsuccessful. 
The sword having been presented to Lieutenant Shubrick, Hayne 
interested himself in other matters, and just a week or so prior to 
the selection of himself and young Toomer as the annual orators 
of their respective societies, Daniel Webster makes his first ap- 
pearance in Congress as Quincy retires. 

Throughout, Quincy had opposed the war. His last great 
effort was in opposition to the bill for increasing the army, re- 
ported by D. R. Williams of South Carolina. Quincy's utterances 
were so intemperate as to cause Randolph, on the same side, to 
protest; but on account of the illness of Williams, Cheves closed 
the debate with one of the most complete vindications of the war 
ever made. His speech, temperate and full, contains all the ar- 
guments which American historians have subsequently adopted ' 
in its behalf. 

On that occasion, Cheves said in part : " Gentlemen fruitful in 
epithets, yet rather fruitful in the abundance than in their variety, 
have called this an unjust, wicked and wanton war. I, on the 
contrary, assert it to be a just and necessary war. . . . Great 
Britain has been properly selected as the first object of our hos- 
tility. When a proposition was made to include France as well 
as Great Britain in the declaration of war, gentlemen on neither 

* Courier, May i, 1813. 2 Ihid., May 11, 1813. 

' Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 4, p. 697. 



44 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



side of the House did support it. The opposition prints through- 
out the Union laughed it to scorn. . . . The government, obliged 
to resist, was obHged to select its enemy. Should France have been 
selected ? With the blood of our citizens insultingly slaughtered, 
without the slightest provocation, on the shores of our own terri- 
tory, unatoned for till the moment of the declaration of war; 
with the habitual impressment of our seamen in every sea; with 
the continual and reiterated violation of your rights to seek where 
you choose a market for your native produce: all before your 
eyes, and with no hope of discontinuance of these injuries, we are 
told that we ought to have diverted our enmity from Great Britain 
and directed it against France. Where, sir, could we attack 
France? Where, sir, are her colonies into which we could carry 
our arms? Where could we subject to invasion her provinces? 
Where are her ships? Where her commerce? Where could we 
have carried against her any of the operations of war? Would 
the chivalry of the gentlemen of the other side of the House have 
suggested an invasion of France ? An honorable gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Gold) said it would not have required another 
man nor another ship to have resisted France. But how, I pray 
you? Because such resistance would have been confined to the 
idle and nugatory act of declaring it. . . . Sir, I feel neither as a 
Frenchman nor a Briton, but as an American. As a citizen of 
the United States I have no affection for any other country. . . . 
Sir, the government did right in discriminating between Britain 
and France and selecting the former. It was the only mode of 
making practical resistance. The world would have laughed at 
us had we declared war against France, who was no longer able 
to injure us, whom we could not assail with effect, and left the 
unceasing injuries of Great Britain to go on unresisted and un- 
resented. The world would have considered it as a mere cover 
for our pusillanimity. . . . Men imprisoned on board ships-of- 



THE GENESIS OF NULLIFICATION 45 

war scattered over the ocean and on distant stations, how could 
they apply to Mr. Lyman in London and give their names? . . . 
It is an abuse such as cannot be tolerated by an independent 
nation. It is one which ought to be resisted by war," ^ 

On the vote which immediately followed, the bill was passed 
by 77 to 42. 

Yet scarcely a week earlier he had made an even greater speech 
on the Merchants' Bonds. Of this O'Neall says, "Washington 
Irving, who heard it, said it was the first speech he had ever heard 
which gave him an idea of ancient eloquence of the manner in 
which the great Greeks and Romans spoke." ^ For him to 
speak at all on this occasion required unanimous consent from a 
committee, reporting unfavorably, to permit his amendment. 
The speech is a model of argument, and it swept the House to his 
view, despite the fact that the Speaker, Clay, opposed it with all 
the force of argument at his command. Any attempt to repro- 
duce parts of this perfect whole would mar it ; but the conclusion 
of the peroration of Cheves's speech is given, as it indicates the 
change from Pinckney's view. Speaking of Edward III of Eng- 
land, he says: "He raised armies, equipped fleets, spent vast sums 
on internal improvements; such demands it was thought the 
art of making gold alone could supply. The historian says, 
He cherished Commerce. ^^ ^ 

* Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 4, p. 697. 

» O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. i, p. 134. 

^ City Gazette, Jan. 11, 1813, and Jan. 12, 1813. 



CHAPTER III 

CONDITION OF STATE AND FEDERAL UNION DURING WAR OF 1 8X2. 
HAYNE'S ADMISSION TO THE BAR. HIS MARRIAGE A YEAR 
LATER AT TWENTY-TWO. THE GREATEST MAN IN THE HOUSE 
OF REPRESENTATIVES 

The cotton-planting industry could hardly have made much 
progress up to this time, and the fact mentioned in the press, 
that a merino ram, imported from Cadiz, brought $510 at auction,^ 
would seem to indicate that diversity in industries later, unfor- 
tunately, abandoned. 

At the Charleston theatre, Cooper frequently appeared, of 
whom the Courier declared, "The most erudite characters in 
the United States have pronounced a finished actor, the equal of 
Cooke;" while a year later, in the same paper, is a criticism of 
Morse as Falstaff in the ** First Part of King Henry IV," somewhat 
akin to Brandes's interesting review of that play: "The historical 
play of Henry IV, ever since its production in 1598, has never 
failed to attract the attention and excite the admiration of successive 
ages; while it inspired the attempts of the best actors. To Jack 
Falstaff the palm of applause has been universally awarded; nor 
is it a small test of its difficulty of personation and its dramatic 
importance to say that the representation of this personage has 
been attempted, and only attempted, by many performers of ac- 
knowledged merit. . . . This character requires superior powers 
of gesture and uncommon flexibility of voice. ... In all his 

* City Gazette, May 21, 1810. 
46 



1 



CONDITIONS DURING WAR OF 1812 



47 



tragical performances, Mr. Morse has adopted a happy medium 
between the dull dignity of Fennell and the ranting rhetorick of 
Cooper." ' 

Allusion has been made to the launch at Charleston of the 
Saucy Jack, 170 tons, 90 feet deck, 24 feet beam, 76 keel. But 
this was nothing unusual in the way of shipbuilding; for three 
years before the ship Carolina had been launched at Beaufort, 
"frame entirely of live oak," ^ while the fitting out of gunboats 
from that port was not unusual." 

Of the temper and disposition of the people, we may judge 
by the fact that Walter Taylor was in this year, 18 13, tried 
and convicted in Edgefield for sending a challenge to his son-in- 
law to fight a duel ; was sentenced to two months' imprisonment, a 
fine of $300 and compelled to furnish recognizances in the sum of 
$1000 to keep the peace.^ 

General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney deserves credit for in- 
ducing the Cincinnati Society to take the public stand it did against 
the practice; but Dr. Philip Moser was the author of the law. 

In the first part of this year two young men graduated at the 
South Carolina College, destined to play quite a part in the politics 
of the State, — H. L. Pinckney, the son of Charles Pinckney, then 
serving his last term as representative in the Legislature, and a 
brilliant Virginian, W. C. Preston, who had happened to stop 
in Columbia, on his way to Florida, and concluded to make it his 
home. H. L. Pinckney was the valedictorian of his class, and 
his subject, "The Comparative Excellence of American Govern- 
ment." * 

Between this Pinckney family and young Hayne there must have 

' Courier, April 24, 1811. 

^ Ibid., April 8, 1809. Letter from Ralph Izard, Jr., to his mother, Oct. 27, 
1808, original in possession of Mrs. Arthur M. Parker, Georgetown, S.C. 

' City Gazette, May 10, 1813. * Ibid., Jan. 4, 1813. 



48 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



existed quite an intimacy ; for in the fall of the year, November 3, 
Hayne married Miss Frances Henrietta Pinckney, the daughter of 
Charles Pinckney; but of the young lady no picture has been 
preserved. Whether he met her at the great national ball, 
which was given in Charleston about this time, in commemoration 
of the naval victories, or had known her for a while, there are no 
means of arriving at; but at twenty-two Hayne's married life 

began. 

In the Legislature of that year an attempt was made by 
Johnson of Edgefield and Gist of York to overthrow the Free 
School System. Yancey of Edgefield, Huger, Lance and Crafts 
of Charleston resisted it, and the attempt failed.' Indeed, the 
members, described as representative yeomanry, were feeling the 
tax to maintain it during the war, and the great benefit of it had 
not yet been demonstrated. 

In Congress, Daniel Webster had signalized his entrance by 
the introduction of his celebrated resolutions concerning the 
Berlin and Milan decrees. This brought him into collision 
with Calhoun, who was not opposed to the request for information, 
but objected to the form. Of the resolutions, the editor of 
the Abridgment of Debates says: "These resolutions gave rise 
to the principal debate of the session, and the answers to them 
were expected to inculpate the government for concealing a 
knowledge of the repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees until after 
the declaration of war, and thereby bringing on the war with Great 
Britain; but the answers were different from what had been ex- 
pected, and gave an advantage to the administration." ^ Had Cal- 
houn been able to hold in hand his own side, or rather had they 
followed him, the opposition would not have gained anything, even 
by the debate; but some administration members, among them 
that old Revolutionary warrior, Butler of South Carolina, broke 

* City Gazette, Dec. 16, 1813. ^ Abridgment of Debates, Vol. 5, p. 19. 



CONDITIONS DURING WAR OF 1812 49 

away. " I will not vote," said he, " for resolutions that I disapprove 
of merely to gratify those whom I am persuaded cannot be con- 
ciliated. The fear of being accused of having an intention to 
suppress useful information will not move me. Conscious of the 
rectitude of my own intentions, I shall give no vote through fear of 
accusations founded in falsehood." ^ The resolutions of inquiry 
were passed by an immense majority, dropping, however, a vote 
at each to the fourth, where four more joined the minority, and at 
the fifth the strength of the latter was doubled. The victory of 
the opposition, however, as has been shown, proved a barren one. 

Cheves's position in the House was very remarkable. He was 
not as distinctly the leader of the administration forces on the 
floor as Calhoun, not as close to Clay, the Speaker, and yet, when 
he opposed Clay in committee of the whole, he generally had both 
Calhoun and Lowndes behind him. Grundy, however, supported 
Clay almost invariably. Not very unnaturally the Speaker ap- 
pointed another member chairman of the committee of Ways and 
Means; and Cheves, finding himself out of touch with his party, 
participated but slightly in the debates with which the Thirteenth 
Congress opened. Against the attempt of the Administration 
party to lay an embargo that summer, Calhoun, Lowndes and he 
voted, and the Senate refusuig to concur, it failed; but on the 
renewal, in the second session, in December, Calhoun went with 
his party. Not so Cheves and Lowndes; ^ and the former, who 
had kept silent throughout the debate, rose at the conclusion to 
make the following remarks: "Sir, I have no influence in this 
House. What little I might once have claimed is gone; I have 
dared to dissent from the course laid down for the government of 
the majority, and consequently have bartered, for the privilege of 
thinking for myself, all right and share in prescribing the policy to 
be pursued. I perceive and, with pain, make the confession, that 

^ Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 56. * Courier, Dec. 23, 1813. 

E 



50 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



these men are so predetermined in their course as that the au- 
thority of an angel could not arrest the whirlwind of destruction, 
which their infatuation has raised ; and I pray God, in working the 
ruin of themselves and the administration, they may not seal the 
ruin of my country," Yet, when possibly in the spirit of retalia- 
tion the opposition, under the leadership of Webster and the 
more bitter Grosvenor of New York, developed their incessant 
attacks upon the President and the conduct of the war, Cheves voted 
steadily with his party. On Calhoun, however, lay the burden of 
the administration's defence, and well he acquitted himself of his 
task. Early in 1814 he and Grosvenor came to a clash, and a duel 
seemed inevitable. The Speaker and Senator Bibb of Georgia 
were Calhoun's seconds;* but the matter was adjusted without a 
meeting. 

On Clay's resignation \o accept the appointment of commis- 
sioner to negotiate peace, Grundy was brought forward as the can- 
didate for the Republican party caucus for Speaker and beaten 
by Cheves, 94 to 59.^ 

Of this remarkable man, so little known, John Belton O'Neall, 
who graduated from the South Carolina College with distinction 
in the same year as Pinckney and Preston, says: "Mr. Cheves's 
reply to Gaston, Gouveneur (Grosvenor) and Webster ' was 
perfectly overwhelming, and crowned the Republican party with 
that wreath of meritorious patriotism which gave them ever 
after the ascendency." Whether this was the speech which has 
been before alluded to as made for his colleague Williams, or one 
made after his elevation to the Speakership, it is difficult to deter- 
mine. Both were great efforts. At this time Cheves was in the 
full maturity of his physical and mental powers. Bom in Abbe- 

* City Gazette, Jan. 7, 1814. 

* Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 5, p. 157. 
» O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. i, p. 134. 



CONDITIONS DURING WAR OF 1812 51 

ville, Sept. 17, 1776/ he came to Charleston at the same age 
as had his young law student; but his means were even more 
straitened, and to maintain himself he became a merchant's 
clerk, filling at the age of sixteen that position, a confidential 
clerk, which is recited as one of the evidences of the preternatural 
ability of Alexander Hamilton. At eighteen he began the study 
of law, and at thirty-two was made Attorney-General of South 
Carolina. As to the estimate in which he was held by intelli- 
gent observers of public events, the following description of himself 
and other members of the House, from the New York Evening 
Post of March 15, 1814, is submitted: — 

"Mr. Webster is a young Ajax in poHtical disquisition, and 
gives every promise of a towering poHtician. Mr. Calhoun is a 
young man of great sensibility — has had the advantage of an 
excellent education, aided by astonishing powers of memory — 
recites in debate the anecdotes and incidents of both modem and 
ancient history with wonderful facility and accuracy — is dex- 
terous in the management of a political cause — exercises a goodly 
share of zeal — commands a rapid though Hmited eloquence, little 
embellished by metaphor or imagery — supported by a charm- 
ing metaphysical analysis and prompted by an apt sagacity 
almost peculiar to himself on the floor, where he exhibits. He 
is the leader of what is called the Administration party in the 
House. Mr. Lowndes is one of the most judicious, modest and 
imposing men in the House of Representatives. His voice and 
figure detract greatly from the pretensions, which he might 
otherwise justly set up, and in claiming which he would be justi- 
fied by the properties of his mind. He is reputed on all hands 
a scholar and a philosopher, and is universally allowed to be a 
most honorable man. . . . But who is the greatest man in the 
House of Representatives? I relinquish my judgment to the 

* Ibid., Vol. I, p. 133. 






52 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

decision of the question already pronounced by the House itself. 
While party spirit predominates, it is more generally fallacious 
and unprofitable to look to the result of an election. But when 
that spirit is rolling in its flood tide, if we should see a vote common 
to both sides raise to eminence an individual, we should regard 
that result as manifesting something out of the usual course. The 
gentleman who now presides, holds the chair by such a vote. Then, 
reader, if you would be informed who is the greatest man in that 
House, watch the mace, and you will unerringly decide for your- 
self. Whatever indication it was wont to manifest, it now 
rises or descends, as the greatest man in the House rises 
or descends. The elevation of Mr. Cheves to the chair was a 
spontaneous concession to his unequalled excellence from both 
sides of the House. He is the only Republican who at the present 
moment could have obtained one Federal vote as the Speaker, 
and he is the only member who is not a thoroughgoing friend 
of the administration, who could have received a great number of 
votes from the Republican side. Even if Mr. Clay was again on 
the floor, if would be impossible for him to vie with his successor. 
To what is owing this voluntary, unsolicited tribute to the claims 
of Mr. Cheves ? It is that all consider him matchless in eloquence, 
profound in his researches, judicious in his measures, pursuing 
the experience of ages, relying on the demonstration of facts, re- 
jecting the hypotheses of ignorance or infatuation, crowned with 
the talents of an exalted caste, adorned with all the charms of 
charity and benevolence, enshrined by honored, imperishable 
integrity, loving his country more than himself." ^ 

Such was the estimate of Cheves at thirty-eight and Lowndes at 
thirty-two. 

The comment provoked by Hayne's first public utterance is 
quite different. It is almost amusing ; but it is most interestingly 

' Courier, March 12, 1814, from New York Evening Post. 



CONDITIONS DURING WAR OF 1812 53 

human. It can best be described as a veritable "tempest in a 
tea-pot." Yet to the careful investigator there is not lacking in 
this too extravagantly praised and too harshly criticised oration 
the germ of a great thought, a grasp upon his subject most remark- 
j able for one of his years. 



CHAPTER IV 

HAYNE's oration before the "'76" SOCIETY AND THE 
BEGINNING OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER 

It had been the custom in Charleston to have an oration, 
delivered annually before the members of the '"76," and also one 
before the members of the "Revolutionary" Society, on the 4th 
of July. One was delivered in St. Philip's, the other at St. 
Michael's Church. Their delivery, within the sacred walls, did 
not prevent the one from being well seasoned with Republican, 
the other with Federal, politics. To be selected as the orator 
was a distinct honor, which the most gifted speakers of the day 
were proud to accept ; therefore for the young Hayne to be chosen 
before he had attained the age of twenty-two, was an indication of 
the esteem in which he was held by his fellow-members, and such 
also must be said of Mr. J. W. Toomer, who was but a few years 
older. Both of the young men had lately been married, and this 
doubtless made them the more eager to excel; so on the day 
appointed, escorted by the militia company usually attendant on 
such occasions, they proceeded to the respective churches. 

Keating L. Simons having been raised to a majority, Hayne 
was now the captain of the Cadet Riflemen, who, under their 
first lieutenant, escorted their captain. Hayne being a Republican, 
his politics pleased the City Gazette of that persuasion, and it 
declared his oration had never been surpassed. The Federal 
Courier hardly goes so far. The comment of that paper on the 
two speeches is however fair enough: "An animated and patriotic 

54 



ORATION BEFORE THE '"76" SOCIETY 55 

oration was pronounced at St. Michael's Church before the 
Cincinnati and Revolution societies, by Joshua W. Toomer, Esq. 
Another oration was pronounced before the "76' and 'Pal- 
metto' societies by R. Y. Hayne. We did not hear the latter, 
but reports speak favorably of it. They will both probably be 
pubHshed." ^ 

Whatever the merits of Hayne's oration, it unquestionably 
struck a popular chord. He was not only toasted by his own 
proper audience; but the Charleston Riflemen, of Toomer's es- 
cort, toasted him as well as Toomer.^ Still there was no harm in 
that ; but on the 14th, in the Gazette, appear strictures on Toomer's 
oration by one "Veritas." ^ "Philo" appears for the defence on 
the i6th, and on the 19th "Veritas" replies. On the 21st " Philo" 
comes back at " Veritas." The war is now carried into Africa, so to 
speak; for in the Courier, under date of July 22, appears a rather 
clever criticism of Hayne's speech by "Q, in a corner"; but the 
reply on the 26th rather breaks up " Q," who evidently has not 
read his Bible as attentively as he should, and stands convicted of 
criticising it, rather than Hayne. But still the paper war goes on, 
until, on August 2, a piece appears, so admirable in style and temper 
as to bear reproduction as a model of the times and a conclusion 
of the matter. The piece is headed, "Mr. Hayne's Oration." 
The writer signs himself " Justitia," and dehvers himself of the 
following temperate reflections: "The best pieces are subject to 
animadversions; the worst have their advocates. Let not the 
youthful candidate then be discouraged should he find himself 
enthralled, for such things are. Much clamor has been excited, 
and the pens of critics sharpened to undervalue an oration which, 
if it cannot compare with Cicero, etc., is still worthy of regard 
and entitled to a large share of admiration. It bespeaks the orator 

' Courier, July 6, 7, 1814. ^ Ihid., July 8, 1814. 

' City Gazette, July 14, 1814. 



56 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

conversant with books and of that higher kind which cannot fail 
to illumine his understanding and give him a name even greater 
than orator of the day. If he has decorated his pages with bor- 
rowed flowers, 'exotics' as they are learnedly called, it was not 
because he wanted them, or because his own soil was not rich 
enough; but because auxiliaries may sometimes be employed to 
help the subject, where, as in the present instance, it involves 
deeds of mighty pith. Then the orator may invoke with propriety 
not only the spirit but the words of the poet and the philosopher, 
and should his readers still be inclined to cavil, call his effusions, 
or even his exuberances if they like the term better, ' parti-colored,' 
their imagination may be under greater control; but the flame 
would not be very apt to ascend. Many who now mark his in- 
verted commas with disdain, would not have detected the fraud 
had he omitted them; while others, perhaps more book learned, 
might have brought the charge of pilfering against him and in 
triumph led his plagiarisms to the public, for the many-headed 
monster loves contention. I am aware that quotations are not 
always expressed and may sometimes be superfluous; but where 
the soil is rich, an exotic may grow and even be improved — at least 
the orator has many examples to justify the attempt, and for his 
encouragement I shall here introduce them. Zimmerman, the 
celebrated philosopher, abounds in quotations, every page almost is 
embellished with a leaf from another book, and yet few, I believe, 
have objected to his writings on that account. Vicessimus Knox, 
also another star in the world of letters, does not disdain them. 
Even the great and profound Lord Bacon uses them, and inverted 
commas frequently grace his pages. A more recent example is 
still before us — the admired author of the Monitor. If such 
people find it useful to employ foreign aid, why should our orator 
be condemned ? The truth is, the orator's politics and not his 
quotations have given offence — here he committed himself, and 



ORATION BEFORE THE '"76" SOCIETY 57 

not all Parnassus can rescue him. Of his politics, however, I do 
not mean to say a word — they were his own, and he had a right 
to communicate them. He was also responsible and called upon 
to deliver his sentiments, as well as speak the language of his audi- 
tors. They have given him their plaudits and pronounced his 
voice a persuasive one. What greater commendation could be 
desired ? Perfection is not the lot of mortals ; and were it not that 
quotations are obnoxious, I could give one applicable enough, and 
I believe I shall risk it, notwithstanding the axe of the literary 
guillotine hangs over it. 

" 'Whoever expects a faultless piece to see 

Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.' " ' 

In his "History of Literature in South Carolina," Mr. Ludwig 
Lewisohn, some ninety years subsequent to the delivery of this ora- 
tion, says, " As a piece of oratorical literature, that speech is ex- 
cessively crude, ill written, ill constructed ; that it gives little promise 
of the grave eloquence which a score of years later matched itself 
with the greatest speeches of Webster." ^ He quotes Paul Hayne 
to the effect, however, that it was electrical and went far toward 
securing the triumphant election which followed; but maintains, 
with reason, that the literary historian is concerned with but one 
thing, viz., is it a good piece of oratorical literature? Judged by 
this, the criticisms were, therefore, just. These criticisms were 
not without their effect on Ha}Tie. Denied the advantages of 
collegiate training, which his great adversary had enjoyed to the 
full, nothing is more remarkable with regard to Hayne than his 
power to make educational use of every contact with the wise and 
learned. Whether working with them or striving against them, 
in his receptive mind, great thoughts ever found a lodgment, and 

* City Gazette, Aug. 2, 1814. 

' "A History of Literature in South Carolina," Sunday News, July 19, 1903. 



58 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

it was within a decade, not a score of years, that he fairly matched 
himself with Webster, in a piece of oratorical literature, the model 
of its kind. He must have recognized, then, the defects of this 
j&rst attempt, despite the fact that his auditors "had given him 
their plaudits, and pronounced his voice a persuasive one." But 
as crude and sophomoric as it may appear to the rhetorician of 
to-day, this speech contains more than the germ of a great thought. 
In this utterance of a young man, barely twenty-two, is disclosed 
a power of analysis and a grasp of the main theme of his subject, 
a comprehension of our governmental institutions, as contrasted 
with those of Great Britain, which, when we consider his oppor- 
tunities and the time at which he made his declaration, marks him 
even then as far beyond the ordinary. In the midst of his pane- 
gyrics on a host of heroes, some of whom, as great as they may have 
then seemed, have in time become somewhat obscured, occurs 
this passage : " Britain has no great fundamental principles above 
the control of her rulers. The trial by jury, Magna Charta and 
even habeas corpus, like the most insignificant statute, may be 
repealed by an act of Parliament. Every privilege of the subject 
can be wrested from him; his happiness may be immolated on 
the altars of ambition with all the forms of the Constitution." 

If we judge Hayne's early effort by the literary standard prevail- 
ing eighty-nine years subsequent to it, is it not fair to indicate how 
strikingly in accord is the above utterance of this young lawyer of 
twenty-two immersed in business, with the disquisition upon the 
same subject, eighty-four years later, by the greatest of English his- 
torians, who opens his second chapter on " Democracy and Liberty " 
with these words: "The power given in England to a simple 
majority of a single Parliament, to change with the assent of the 
crown any portion of the constitution, is not a common thing among 
free nations. . . . Nothing, indeed, is more remarkable in our 
constitutional history than the small stress which has been placed 



ORATION BEFORE THE '"76" SOCIETY 59 

in England upon mere legislative machinery, upon constitutional 
laws, definitely tracing the respective limits and powers of difi"er- 
ent institutions. The system of checks and counterchecks, which 
it has been the object of written constitutions to maintain, has 
been roughly maintained in England by the great diversities that 
long existed in the constituencies, by the powerful organization 
of many distinct and sometimes conflicting interests ; by the great 
influence and essentially representative character of the House of 
Lords, ... It is absolutely indispensable to the working of the 
whole machine that it should be in the hands of honest and trust- 
worthy men, of men determined to subordinate on great occasions 
their personal and party interests to the interests of the State. . . . 
If this spirit is no longer found among rulers and Parliaments 
and constituencies, there is no constitution which may be more 
easily dislocated and which provides less means of checking ex- 
cesses of bad government." ^ 

The thought is not less clearly apprehended by Hayne, if put 
with more attention to detail by Lecky. And Lecky had the dis- 
sertations of both Tocqueville and Bryce to excite and stimulate 
thought upon the subject ; Hayne, in all probability his course for 
examination for the bar, and possibly a conversation or two with 
Charles Pinckney. If the undeniable similarity of thought is 
grudgingly yielded with the qualifying statement that it was and 
always has been axiomatic, it can be urged that it was not so deemed 
by the Federal critics of 1814; for this very passage of the oration 
was exploited as one of its absurdities. 

But Hayne did not depend upon the oration alone, however it 
may have increased his popularity, to waft him to power. In 
conjunction with Mr. Thomas Lee, who had aspirations for the In- 
tendancy, he interested himself in calling a meeting of citizens for 
the purpose of raising subscriptions to build a 74-gun ship, to be 
> Lecky, "Democracy and Liberty," Vol. i, p. 139. 



6o ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

offered to the valiant commander of the Essex.^ But before that 
could take shape, conditions seemed so threatening that the meet- 
ing called another to concert measures for the security of the city 
from invasion.^ This awoke the city authorities, who called one 
earlier, and, with a somewhat caustic card from Mr. Lee, on the 
dilatory conduct of the authorities, the meetings coalesced. Mr. 
Lee, however, comes out as a candidate against Thomas Rhett 
Smith, the Federal incumbent of the Intendancy, against whom is 
launched the political shaft, "Aristocrat." But Thomas Rhett 
Smith wins the election, and the elated Federalists put him up to 
succeed Langdon Cheves, who declines reelection to Congress. 
Henry Middleton is brought forward as the Republican candidate, 
and Hayne, among others, named for the Legislature. Under 
date of October 8, some old parliamentary hand ^ suggests to the 
Republicans the expediency of concentrating their strength on 
the exact number of candidates needed for the various offices, and 
offers a ticket. Middleton for Congress, James R. Pringle for 
the State Senate and sixteen representatives for the House, with the 
name of Robert Y. Hayne at the head. The ticket is handsomely 
elected, Hayne running at the head and beating the leading Federal- 
ist by 372 * votes, poor Toomer being far in the rear of his own 
side. It is not unlikely, and quite probable, that in his withdrawal 
from active political life, Charles Pinckney influenced the advance- 
ment of his young son-in-law; but in the main, Hayne's popularity 
was owing to those qualities of heart and mind he had already 
given evidence of possessing. In the excitement of this political 
struggle, work went on seven days in the week, strengthening the 
lines around the city, and, as an indication of the necessity of such 
work on the fortifications, a suggestion finds its way into the press, 
that as many of the men have rushed to the lines, without so much 

* City Gazelle, Aug. 29, 1814. ' Ibid., Oct. 8, 1814. 

!* Ibid., Sept. I, 1814. * Ibid., Oct. 14, 1814. 



ORATION BEFORE THE '"76" SOCIETY 61 

as arranging for a change of linen, a delicate attention on the part 
of the ladies of the city would be the purchase and presentation 
of shirts to such of their defenders as need them, which the South 
Carolina Homespun Company stands prepared to furnish/ 

At the convening of the Legislature, the young captain of the 
Charleston Cadet Riflemen hardly reaches Columbia before some- 
thing in his character, reputation or appearance so attracts Gov- 
ernor Alston, that the latter appoints him Quartermaster-General 
of the State.^ It was a time of war; troops were moving from 
point to point; the coast was threatened by the British and the 
frontier by Indians: therefore the appointment was no sinecure, 
for upon the appropriate handling of the militia depended the 
security of the States. The duties of Quartermaster-General are 
thus laid down in a general order of the Commander-in-Chief: 
"The Quartermaster-General is charged with transportation of 
every description, safekeeping of ordnance, arms, equipage and 
munitions of war; quartering troops, opening roads and building 
and repairing bridges necessary for the movement of troops. 
Quarter, forage, barrack and wagon masters and all arsenal keepers 
and powder receivers are ordered to report to him and receive 
his orders." ^ With this appointment, Hayne's military rank was 
raised to that of colonel, and it certainly speaks strongly of the im- 
pression already created beyond his immediate environment, that 
this young man should have been selected for the discharge of 
these laborious and responsible duties. 

The matter which seems to have been stirring the members of 
the Legislature most at this session was the question of the support 
of the Free Schools. Defeated for Congress and otherwise lacking 
the recognition in his own section, which in the opinion of the 
writers of the day he seems to have merited, the talented Benjamin 

' City Gazette, Oct. 26, 1814. ' Carolina Gazette, Dec. 17, 1814. 

* City Gazette, Jan. 16, 181 5. 



62 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Yancey had moved to Charleston, where, with D. E. Huger and 
Pepoon, he had entered into a copartnership for the practice of law ; 
and thus one able defender of the system was absent. Crafts and 
Lance of Charleston, strong advocates, were also no longer mem- 
bers of the House ; but the Free School System nevertheless found 
valiant defenders. » 

On December 12, Dr. Philip Moser, of the Charleston delegation, 
as chairman for the committee to which had been referred the 
petitions against the system, brought in the following report : " The 
committee on Schools, to whom was referred sundry petitions, viz., 
from the inhabitants of Abbeville and part of Pendleton, Newberry, 
Lewisburg and Marion districts, praying a suspension or relief 
of the Free School Act ; also a petition from Colleton District to 
the same purport. Report: That they have considered the same 
in conjunction with reports of commissioners from twenty-three 
districts, also referred, from which it appears 4651 children have 
been educated the last year from the Free School Fund, in addition 
to the facility it has afforded to the establishment of numerous 
other schools throughout the State. Your committee are therefore 
of opinion that the Free School Act has been productive of un- 
bounded good and no evil ; they therefore unanimously recommend 
a continuance of this excellent system and a rejection of the prayer 
of the above-named petitioners." ^ 

This unfavorable report did not stop the opponents, however, 
and a bill was introduced suspending the operation of the Free 
School Act, which was passed in the House, 65 ayes, 54 noes, Hayne 
and almost the entire Charleston delegation voting with the minor- 
ity, the record of the vote having been preserved. In the Senate 
the bill for suspension, however, suffered a distinct defeat, and the 
act was not suspended. In this vote, as has been noted, Hayne 
was in accord with the majority from his locality ; but a subsequent 

* Carolina Gazette, Dec. 24, 1814. 



ORATION BEFORE THE '"76" SOCIETY 63 

publication indicates that in this, the first session he attended, he 
gave an unusual indication of his independence and decision of 
character ; for when one of the Charleston delegation was address- 
ing the House, Hayne stopped the speech and took him off the floor 
by a motion which prevailed, concerning which later there was 
comment. 

While Robert Y. Hayne was thus making his way in the State, 
his elder brother, Colonel x^rthur P. Hayne, as Inspector-General, 
was serving under Andrew Jackson at New Orleans and winning 
the esteem and affection of that great man. The War of 18 12, 
crowned by the great victory achieved at that city in January, 181 5, 
ending, inquiry not unnaturally arose as to the birthplace of the 
hero. The question was referred to General Warren R, Davie of 
North Carolina, whose operations during the Revolutionary War 
had been along the line between the two States of North and South 
Carolina, and he on the authority of the Crawfords established it 
as unquestionably in South Carolina.^ 

Another matter of some interest communicated to the society of 
" '76" at their annual banquet, July 4, indicates the opinion of one 
of the great old men of the country with regard to the war. Prior 
to the delivery by Hayne of that speech, around which such a war 
had raged, one had been delivered by Mr, J, B, White, in March 
of the same year, which seems to have been considered by the 
society as something quite beyond the ordinary. This Mr. White 
must have been an earnest, public-spirited citizen, and it is 
pleasant to note that he won the esteem of both the young orators, 
over whose efforts admirers came into such wordy collision. 
Mr. White was a man of many gifts. He had painted a picture 
of an incident in the war, which picture, in addition to its artistic 
merit, was thought to point something of a moral. At least the 
Republicans did not hesitate to call the attention of the Federalists 

* City Gazette, March 27, 1815. 



64 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

to their view of it when put on exhibition. Mr. White was also 
a dramatist, and had written a play which had been performed 
at the Charleston theatre, in which he had satirized the practice 
of duelling. Mr. White's oration had been sent to that old pa- 
triot, John Adams, and from the great man the committee had 
received an acknowledgment. Complimented the committee 
was, and the letter was accordingly not only read at the meeting, 
but published. 

"QuiNCY, June 9, 1814. 
"R. Y. Hayne, J. Jervey, B. Elliott, Esqs. 
"Committee of the '76 Association. 
" Gentlemen : Accept my thanks for Mr. White's oration on 
the 4th of March and be pleased to present them to your constit- 
uents. At the same time I cannot refrain from congratulating 
you on the felicity of our country and the glory acquired by the 
Western, the Southern and the Middle States in the late war. 
I have the honor to be, etc., 

"John Adams." * 

This was calculated to weaken the Federalists and strengthen 
the Republicans, and doubtless the society recognized the fact. 

In addition to the demands of his business, his legislative duties, 
his work as Quartermaster-General and the care and responsibility 
imposed upon him as one of the trustees of his father-in-law's 
estate, a great fortune honeycombed with debt, where order must 
be evolved from chaos, young as he was at the time, Hayne seems 
to be the individual always in demand, whether the work was to 
deliver a eulogy on the life and services of Dr. Ramsay, the prepa- 
ration of a prospectus of the latter's works, or the raising of a 
charitable fund; and yet he finds time for social meetings, as the 
above incident shows. In this year, when the State and nation 

' City Gazette, July 6, 1815. 



ORATION BEFORE THE '"76" SOCIETY 65 

lose the service of such a man as Cheves, it is interesting to note 
the estimate of him in Calhoun's own district and the political 
sentiments of the latter of that day. In the course of the usual 
celebration of the 4th of July, at Abbeville, Dr. Casey toasts the 
former as foUows: "Honorable Langdon Cheves — He has con- 
sulted the honor and prosperity of his country, regardless of party 
feelings; may South Carolina alv^ays have such men to direct 
her counsels." 

The toast offered by Calhoun was : " The People — The only 
source of legitimate power. May France acting on that principle 
prove invincible, and may its truth and energy disperse the com- 
bination of crowned heads." ^ 

' Ibid., July 27, 1815. 



CHAPTER V 

AFTER THE WAR OF l8l2. CONDITION OF THE STATE AND NATION. 
STATUS OF THE FREE COLORED PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH 

In the second session of the Legislature, Hayne's influence 
seemed steadily to grow. We read, ''The House of Representa- 
tives have agreed nearly unanimously to two resolutions submitted 
by Mr. Hayne." The first of these seems to have been to give 
four additional weeks to the Court of Common Pleas in Charleston 
and two weeks for Colleton and Beaufort ; the second was for the 
appointment of an additional judge. The same correspondent 
informs us that the Free Schools have become more popular, and 
some gentlemen from the interior even speak of making further 
appropriations for them. 

In Congress, great and good as he was, the absence of Cheves 
left no void ; for Lowndes filled the vacancy to perfection. Clay, 
having accomplished his mission, returned to Congress and was 
again elected Speaker, and in the course of the session occurred the 
incident which strained the former intimate relations between him- 
self and Calhoun. Madison's second term was drawing to an end, 
and the question of his successor was up. Lowndes had been con- 
sistently opposed to a caucus, and although but fifteen members 
refrained from attending, he was one of these. Clay attended 
but for the purpose of protesting against the expediency, while 
Calhoun attended as the advocate of Monroe. By 65 to 54 Craw- 
ford was beaten, and in a great measure to Calhoun this was due. 
Already between Clay, Crawford and Calhoun the contest had 

66 



AFTER THE WAR OF 1812 67 

opened, involving so many changes. In the beginning of the 
session, the Kentucky Abohtion Society had petitioned Congress 
j to set apart a suitable territory as an asylum for emancipated 
i negroes and mulattoes, as a great number had been emancipated, 
and the number was likely to increase; but "in conse- 
quence of the fact that w^hen emancipated they were not 
allowed the privileges of free citizens and are prohibited 
by law from emigrating to other States and Territories," they 
suffered many privations, "for the want of room and opportuni- 
ties for the expansion of genius and encouragement to industry." 
The prayer of the petition had been refused, the House concurring 
in the report brought in by Robertson of Louisiana, that there 
was "no part of our highly favored country where industry and 
economy will not insure to those who practise them an easy and 
independent support." 

This brings us naturally to a consideration of the condition of 
the negroes in the Union. 

From original articles of agreement in the possession of the 
South Carolina Historical Society there is evidence of the care 
taken by humane planters to protect their slaves from abuse by 
overseers ; ^ while the case of Fairchild vs. Bell ^ illustrates the 
determination of the courts to enforce it when necessary by giving 
a right of recovery against the inhumane owner to those who suc- 
cored the abused slave. The case, also, of Pepoon against Clarke ' 
shows the strict regard for the rights of free colored persons when 
the courts were invoked in their behalf. 

The institution of slavery led to abuses — of that there can be 
no doubt; but that there was a strong, active, public sentiment 
against such is as clear. To the following presentment in January, 
1816, is appended as foreman the name of a member of a family 

* Agreement between John Ball & John Penny, Jan. i, 1813. 

* Brevard's Reports, Vol. 2, p. 129. ' Constitutional Reports, Vol. i, p. 137. 



I 



68 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

as identified with all that was as refined and cultivated as could be 
found in Charleston: "The Grand Jury present as a most serious 
evil the many instances of negro homicide, which have been com- 
mitted within the city for many years. The parties exercising un- 
limited control, as masters and mistresses, in the indulgence of 
their malignant and cruel passions, in the barbarous treatment of 
slaves, using them worse than beasts of burden and thereby 
bringing on the community, the State and the city the contumely 
and opprobrium of the civilized world." ^ And again, in May: 
"We present as a grievance, the show of lawful proceedings, which 
has been fictitiously given by some persons to the horrible practice 
of inducing free negroes in jail or in debt to bind themselves for 
a trifling sum for several years, and by a transfer of the indenture 
and a chain of inhuman proceedings cause them to be sold into the 
interior or out of the State, by which means they may be deprived 
of their freedom." 

To the thoughtful, the fearlessness of these presentments will 
be the strongest impression produced by their publication. Evil 
exists under all civilizations; it is the struggle against it which 
bears witness to the moral worth of a community. But to some 
Pharisees they will only represent the frightful condition under 
which the negroes, free or slave, existed in the city ; for the truth of 
history, therefore, there must be added the following interesting 
letter, illustrative as it is of the condition of the free colored persons 
of Charleston at that very period. From the letter book of the 
Brown Fellowship Society, to which allusion has before been made, 
the following is quoted : — 

"Charleston, April 17, 1817. 
" Mr. George Logan : — 

"Sir: With Great reluctance I now write you as Being 
directed by the President and Members of the Brown Society to 
' City Gazette, Jan. 22 and April 24, 1816. 



AFTER THE WAR OF 1812 69 

inform you finally that agreeable to the report (made them on your 
conduct) by William Clark on the meeting of the loth day of 
February last, relative to the matters between Robinson, a free 
black man and yourself, a committee on the case were appointed 
to search and examine into the matters Relative thereto. Ac- 
cordingly they have done so and found Evidence on sure ground 
Committed to paper that you held a conspiracy and caused said 
Robinson, a free black man to be sold as a slave. This information 
comes from a Gentleman one of our acting Wardens in Council. 
Who are ready at any time to give testimony against your conduct 
&» deportment in Life in consequence of so base and notorious an 
act as committed. The members composing said body in General 
have positively agreed at their last meeting the 3rd inst. (at which 
you were present &= called on to vindicate yourself and defend 
your course but could not) . Therefore you are discarded from the 
Brown fellowship Society and are not entitled to any rights, 
privileges or benefits whatever belonging to said institution. 
Neither shall your heirs or posterity have any benefit or claim 
whatever from the said Institution from the 3rd day of April, 
181 7, to the end of time. By order and in behalf of the President 
and the Members of the Brown Fellowship Society, I am, 
SU-, "Your obdt. servant, 

"James Mitchell, Secretary.^ 

"To Mr. George Logan, 
State Street." 

The contrast between the condition of the free colored people 
as evinced by this letter, emanating from a community where 
slavery existed, and that which is revealed as their status in one of 
the free States, if dependence is to be placed on the report of the 

"Book of Century Fellowship Society, April 17, 1817, in possession of J. H. 
Holloway. 



70 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Massachusetts legislative committee, made public three years 
later, is the severest indictment of the methods of Northern aboli- 
tionists which could be drawn. 

Does it not speak volumes for the breadth and liberality of 
the Charleston public of that period that he, who with Crafts, 
Lance and Huger of the city so eloquently defended the Free 
School System and who, but a recent resident of it and counsel 
in that very case of Pepoon vs. Clarke, for the ward of the unhappy 
being whom Clarke sought to consign to slavery, the eloquent 
Yancey, without any caucus indorsement, should have led the 
legislative ticket for the year? And that, too, when the ticket 
contained the names of men as popular as Hayne and Huger. Yet 
that breadth and liberality had its well-defined limits; for when 
the defeated candidate for the nomination of the Republican 
presidential caucus brought forward his plan for the solution in 
part of the race problem, viz., the intermarriage of whites and 
Indians, it only provoked ridicule.^ 

The success of Calhoun in pushing through Congress, despite all 
obstructive tactics, his bank bill, was the means of furnishing evi- 
dence of the growing confidence in him ; but also the financial con- 
dition of the metropolis of the State he represented, for Charleston 
subscribed $2,598,000 ^ — a greater amount than either New York 
or Boston, and surpassed only by Philadelphia and Baltimore. 
Indeed, the commerce of Charleston, now that embargoes were 
things of the past, was moving forward with a rush. Of a total of 
exports for this year, valued at $81,920,452 for the United States, 
those of South Carolina amounted to $10,849,409,^ being surpassed 
by only one State, viz., New York, with $19,690,051. But in popu- 
lation the city had not grown. In a total population of 23,944, 
there were 11,515 slaves and 1200 free persons of color. Of a 

^ City Gazette, April 24, 1816. ' Ibid., Sept. 4, 1816. 

' Courier and City Gazette, Feb. 20, 181 7. 



AFTER THE WAR OF 1812 



71 



total population of 109,619, New York City had 617 slaves and 
7,744 ^ free persons of color among her inhabitants. What was the 
condition of these free persons of color in New York ? We shall 
soon see what it was in Massachusetts, and we have the assertion of 
the Abolition Society of Kentucky as to what it was generally, in 
absolute contradiction to the claim made six years prior by Fiske 
of New York, that "in almost all the States, free persons, whether 
black, white or colored, if they had the proper qualifications other- 
wise, were allowed to vote"; for the distinct claim is made that 
"they were not allowed the privileges of free citizens and are 
prohibited from emigrating to other States and Territories." ^ 

With a white population a little more than one-ninth of that 
of New York, the value of the exports of Charleston were nearly 
one-half. With a canal system giving water communication as high 
up in the interior as Camden, and with steamboa-t connections, in 
addition to the volume of shipping, the city had metropolitan 
ambitions, as the attempt to establish that museum, which even 
to-day is so creditable to the place, was indicative of. It was along 
lines such as these that the influence of Stephen Elliott made itself 
chiefly felt. Born in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1771,^ a graduate 
of Yale College, he was the first President, if not the founder, of the 
Literary and Philosophical Society of Charleston from which the 
museum proceeded. The author of "The Botany of South Caro- 
lina and Georgia," and collector of the "Elliott Herbarium," the 
diversity of his talents was not less remarkable than their power 
and excellence. He had been denied political eminence, and, in- 
asmuch as that denial was in favor of William Lowndes, it is hard 
to question it ; but with such a man, as well as Langdon Cheves to 
utilize, that the Legislature should have passed them both by and 
taken Judge Smith from the bench to fill the vacancy in the 

' Ibid., Aug. 13, 1816. ' Abridgment of Debates, Vol. 5, p. 548. 

' Holmes, "Southern Fifth Reader," p. 255. 



72 ROBERT Y. HAYNE _ 

United States Senate, is indicative of the difl&culty in choosing from 
much good material. ■ 

The successful close of the war had discredited the Federal 
party in Charleston to such an extent as to make it slow to bring 
out candidates, and the Republicans therefore fought among them- 
selves. Against Henry Middleton for Congress, the anti-duellist, 
Free School champion, Dr. Philip Moser, was put and pressed 
vigorously by the City Gazette; but, on his defeat for the nomi- 
nation, the party supported Middleton; and Crafts, the Federal 
advocate of free schools, failed of election. On the legislative 
ticket, Hayne ran third ; while H. L. Pinckney was also elected, as 
was D. Ravenel, running as against the caucus nomination. But 
while Hayne ran only third on the ticket of sixteen representatives, 
and both Yancey and D. E. Huger, older men and of longer ex- 
perience in affairs, were made chairmen of more important commit- 
tees by the Speaker, yet an incident at the opening of the session 
disclosed the remarkable influence he wielded. When the ticket 
for the Legislature had first been suggested, the nam6 of Bartholo- 
mew Carroll had headed it.^ The ticket had, however, been de- 
capitated, without explanation,^ and just before the assembling of 
the Legislature a publication appeared which seemed to stamp 
Hayne as the leader. "Robert Y. Hayne: Sir — Having had the 
honor of being appointed commissioner under an order of the Senate 
to examine and report on the claim of Peter Buyck, and in my place 
as a member of the House of Representatives being engaged in 
disclosing to the House the information I had collected on that sub- 
ject, you moved a postponement, which was carried, by which I 
was deprived of an opportunity of discharging a duty which I 
owed myself and my country in giving a correct statement of 
the case and the much injured public creditors; and not now 
having the honor of a seat in the House, I make use of this 

* City Gazette, Sept. 6, 1816. * Ibid., Sept. 9, 1816. 



AFTER THE WAR OF 1812 



73 



medium to inform you (of whose candor and justice I entertain 
the highest opinion) and the members of both branches of the 
legislature (who I am confident have very little information 
on the subject) with a correct state of the matter of this long- 
standing claim ; at the same time, I assure you I have no sort of 
interest but what arises from my sense of justice in Buyck or any 
of his family or connections." ^ Then follows a lengthy statement 
I of the case signed by Bartholomew Carroll. Whether it accom- 
plished anything, and what connection if any it had with Carroll's 
heading and leaving the ticket, nothing else shows, but it is a tribute 
to Hayne's influence with his colleagues. 

On the floor of the House, opposed by older men, — Yancey, 
Lance, Wilson and Kennedy, — Hayne, supported by Huger, 
carried through by a vote of 88 to 28 the change in the Constitution 
with regard to the Appellate Court ^ as well as other legislation with 
respect to jurisprudence. There was also an act passed prohibiting 
the introduction of slaves from any State or Territory, without 
special provision of the Legislature,' — an act of profound impor- 
tance, if we consider it as representing public sentiment in South 
Carolina at the close of 1816. In the first of the next year, the 
comment on the announcement, that "between November 21 and 
29, 1816, six vessels with 1538 slaves had reached Havana," 
by the City Gazette, is ** inhuman traffic," * which would show 
agreement with a sentiment restricting interstate movement. 
The elevation of Judge Smith, however, could not be so under- 
stood. 

For the vacancy caused by his removal from the bench, Cheves 
was unanimously selected — an arrangement which leads an 
eminent Federalist to remark, with great acuteness: "The State 
will gain much by Mr. Cheves's services; but I think they have 

* Ihid., Nov. 29, 1816. ^ Ibid., Dec. 17, 1816. 

* Ibid., Dec. 10, 1816. * Ibid., Jan. 11, 1817. 



74 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

chosen too humble and obscure a pedestal on which to place this 
ornament of Carolina." ^ 

One bad sign of the times was the failure of the South Carolina 
Homespun Company. That did much to convince the leaders of 
opinion in the State that there was no future for manufacturing in 
the South. And to that mistaken opinion, Hayne seems to have 
later subscribed. 

For him the period was depressing. The death of a younger 
brother and the sale of his father's plantation, his father-in-law's 
pecuniary embarrassment and his wife's failing health, all contrib- 
uted to the weight of his cares at twenty-five. 

In Congress, meanwhile, Calhoun had just introduced his reso- 
lution supplementary to the bank act, authorizing a committee 
to inquire into the expediency of setting apart the bonus and net 
annual proceeds of the bank for internal improvements ^ prepara- 
tory to his entrance into the cabinet of Monroe as Secretary of 
War. 

The two years which followed saw the completion of Hayne's 
career as a member of the State Legislature. In the fall of the 
year 1817, Benjamin Yancey died at his old home, Edgefield.^ 
During his short sojourn in Charleston, the city had honored him 
with distinct marks of her esteem, and the Speaker from that city 
had made him chairman of what had always been regarded in 
South Carolina as the most important committee, of which Hayne 
was also a member ; but Speaker Bennett did not advance Hayne to 
the chairmanship on Yancey's death. Matthew I, Keith, whom 
the voters had placed second on the ticket and just between 
Yancey and Hayne, was made chairman. 

The close of this second session seems marked by little of im- 
portance. The assembly was so flooded with petitions for the 

* Courier, Dec. 23, 1816. ' City Gazette, Dec. 24, 1816. 

3 Ihid., Oct. 9, 1817. 



AFTER THE WAR OF 1812 



75 



introduction of negroes as to disturb the correspondent of the City 
Gazette, who speaks of colonizing them ; ^ for in Charleston 
their increasing numbers were making them a great nuisance. 
A batch of 469 had just been apprehended and brought before the 
court on the charge of disorderly conduct, they having bought a lot, 
erected a building and engaged therein in a species of worship 
which the neighborhood found a nuisance. They were discharged ; 
but the bringing in of more would create more trouble. In the 
Legislature, Hayne had been spoken of in connection with a judge- 
ship ; " but seeking the advice of Huger, after a conference with him 
had announced that he was not a candidate" ^ and would not 
accept the office. It may be well doubted from this whether 
Hayne entirely approved of the candidacy of his distinguished 
father-in-law for Congress in the following year; for Mr. Huger 
was a candidate, who whether Federalist or not was quite ac- 
ceptable to the mass of voters in the Charleston District. He was 
a man of the age of Calhoun and Lowndes, in the full maturity 
of his physical power, and his stand for the Free School System 
had endeared him to the masses ; but unfortunately for his pros- 
pects, Mr. William Crafts, also a Federalist, encouraged by his 
strong run of the previous year, was also an aspirant. Two 
Federalists were more than the Republicans of Charleston could 
tolerate, and pressure was brought to bear upon the veteran 
statesman of that party, Charles Pinckney, then in his sixty-first 
year, to stand as a candidate.^ 

There were many reasons why Charles Pinckney should have 
refused. Measured by the age in which he lived, when life was 
shorter than now and the living faster, he was an old man. He 
had accomplished much and been highly honored. His son-in- 
law and only son, both dear to him and well equipped, were 

' Ibid., Dec. 4, 181 7. 2 O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 13. 

* City Gazette, July i, 1818. 



76 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

entering public life. A settlement had been arrived at with his 
creditors ; but so soon after his great failure there was certain to be 
hard feeling aroused by his coming forth to the post of leader and 
adviser. It is not surprising, then, that upon his head there 
burst a storm. Every charge that could be trumped up against him 
was brought to bear upon the candidate, and his supporters were 
kept busy answering them. He was accused of cowardice during 
the Revolutionary War at the siege of Savannah, of failing to ac- 
count for public funds intrusted to him while in office and for lack 
of public spirit in 1812. In reply, his friends cited his demand for a 
court martial with regard to the Savannah episode, admitting that 
as a captain he had, through a misunderstood order, retired ; but 
claiming that the court martial had been refused by his superior 
officer, and that his subsequent withdrawal from the army had 
only been in consequence of the high honor bestowed upon him 
through his election as a representative to the Continental Congress. 
They pointed to the fact that he had refused British protection 
during the struggle, and at the close of the contest, from a prison 
ship, had been unanimously chosen the representative of his fellow- 
prisoners to voice their views. The misappropriation they denied, 
demanding the proofs, and pointed to the fact that he had four 
times been elected Governor of the State. They asserted he had 
communicated with Governor Alston in 181 2, offering his services; 
and they declared that, despite his sixty-one years, he was in full 
possession of all his splendid mental faculties,^ which last as- 
sertion he certainly subsequently demonstrated beyond perad- 
venture. The charge against Charles Pinckney of misappropri- 
ating public funds evidently arose through the fact that accusations 
having been brought against the American representative at 
Algiers, the point was made that the scope of the investigation 
should embrace an examination of other accounts of officials with 

* Cit3i Gazette, July 15, 20, 23, 24, 1818. 



AFTER THE WAR OF 1812 



77 



the government, including those of Pinckney some ten years or 
more previous, when he was Minister to Spain. The matter seems 
to have been dropped in Congress and looked more like a political 
manoeuvre than a serious investigation. He was elected, and in 
fact the only Federal who succeeded in getting an office in the 
election that year from Charleston was Keating L. Simons, who 
obtained a seat in the Legislature, Joel R. Poinsett leading the 
ticket, with Hayne second. But upon the assembling of the new 
Legislature, Hayne was unanimously elected Speaker.^ 

The Legislature which assembled in the fall of 1818 was de- 
scribed at the time, by the acute and observant correspondent 
of the Gazette, as "containing the greatest array of talent probably 
ever assembled in such a body in South Carolina," and, judged 
by the career of not a few of its members, it is not unnatural that 
they should have given early indication of the force they later 
displayed themselves the possessors of. 

Hayne's appointments with regard to committees are indica- 
tive of that fairness, breadth and patriotism which endeared 
him through life to many who found themselves diflfering with 
him. As chairman of the committee of Elections, he selected Joel 
R. Poinsett of Charleston, a Republican ; of the Ways and Means 
and the Judiciary, D. E. Huger and K. L. Simons, both 
Federalists.^ 

Hardly had the House met before it became apparent that 
upon not a few questions there would be wide division of opinion 
and spirited debate. There was the bill to repeal the act pro- 
hibiting the importation of slaves from other States and Territories, 
without the special permission of the Legislature, which a great 
number of the members desired to force through, and a small num- 
ber, far wiser, were determined to resist. There was the amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States, proposed by the 

* Ihid., Nov. 28, 1818. ' Ibid. 



78 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

State of North Carolina and favored by the Governor of South 
Carolina, altering the method of choosing electors for President 
and Vice-President, which was to be pressed upon the House by a 
formidable array of talent. And there was the bill to make "all 
words, in themselves actionable, which shall be falsely spoken, 
injurious to the moral character of the persons of whom they are 
spoken," the phraseology of which as reported was sufficiently 
obscure to give rise to considerable debate. 

With regard to the bill providing for the amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States, the correspondent of the City 
Gazette says: "There probably never was a question in the 
Legislature which elicited more talent than was displayed in the 
discussion of the merits of the amendment, which occupied two 
days. Messrs. McDuffie, K. L. Simons, D. E. Huger and J. D. 
Witherspoon were for the amendment; Messrs. Hayne (Speaker), 
Hunt and Warren, against. At first view it seems to promise a more 
free expression of the public view; but the fact is, when niceties 
of calculation are goiie into, it is directly the reverse."^ The 
correspondent tells us the amendment was finally disagreed to: 
ayes, 29, noes, 82. This was followed by the most important 
discussion which had occupied the Legislature since the adoption 
of the Constitution of the United States, viz., that concerning the 
repeal of the act prohibiting the importation of negroes from other 
States and Territories without special permission from the Legis- 
lature. Governor Pickens recommended the repeal, on the ex- 
traordinary ground that the law was violated with impunity.^ 

Prior to the Revolutionary War, the number of negroes in the prov- 
ince of South Carolina had exceeded the whites ; but the war had 
changed that, and up to 1800 the white population had exceeded the 
colored by about 25 per cent ; but with the invention of the cotton-gin, 
and the spread of the cotton-planting industry, a great change was 
1 City Gazette, Dec. 8, 1818. =* Courier, Nov. 30, 1818. 



AFTER THE WAR OF 1812 79 

being wrought, and by 18 10 the two races were again about equal in 
number, and with the close of the war in 181 5 the attention of the 
thoughtful had been directed to the evil, and hence the act of 181 6. 
This act, short-sighted men wished now to repeal. The negro 
population was increasing at a rate three times as great as that 
of the white. In the city of Charleston they were getting to be a 
nuisance and affecting the morals of the whites. Allusion has been 
made to the great number arrested for rowdy worship in the pre- 
vious year and dismissed ; but in June of this year their disorderly 
conduct seems to have brought punishment, for we read under that 
date in the Courier that "one hundred and forty-three free negroes 
and slaves belonging to the African church were taken up on Satur- 
day afternoon by the City Guard and lodged in the Guard House. 
The City Council yesterday morning sentenced five of them, 
consisting of a bishop and four ministers, to one month's imprison- 
ment, or to give security to leave the State. Eight other ministers 
were also sentenced separately to receive ten lashes, or pay a fine 
each of five dollars." ^ 

It will not do to assume this was not just ; for from the records 
of a colored society it has been already shown that by " a Gentle- 
man, one of our acting Wardens in Council," was that society 
warned of the traitorous behavior of one of its own members in 
conspiring to sell a free black into slavery. The truth was, that 
their numbers were increasing too swiftly for them to be influenced 
properly. 

The eastern sea wall of the Battery had just been completed 
as a pleasure resort, but the slaves and free negroes congregated 
there in such numbers that they were warned by the city au- 
thorities to keep off.^ These authorities did have a prompt and 
summary way of remedying evils, not at all confined to the blacks; 
for in July of the same year 625 loaves of light bread were seized by 

» Ibid., June 9, 1818. » Ibid., Sept. 12, 1818. 



8o 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



the City Marshal and distributed to the poor, a most efficacious 
way of enforcing proper weight.^ 

It would have seemed from the foregoing that the representa- 
tives of Charleston, at least, would have realized the mistake of 
the repeal of the act prohibiting importation of negroes from 
other States, even if the extravagant prices for cotton had turned 
the heads of the country members ; but WiUiam Lance of Charles- 
ton was one of the speakers in favor of the repeal. With him 
were John D. Witherspoon of Marion and George McDuffie of 
Abbeville. The principal opponents to the bill seem to have 
been from Charleston, — Hayne, Huger and K. L. Simons.^ But 
if Lance did not represent Charleston as efifectively as the three 
who opposed the bill, yet he cannot be dismissed as representing 
nothing. He was a gentleman of parts and learning, a lawyer of 
merit, an orator of repute and the author of a life of Washington, 
which, for some inscrutable purpose, he had written in the Latin 
tongue. But he was no fanciful visionary, for he had shared 
with Yancey, Crafts and Huger the credit of the first defence of the 
Free School System. The bill was passed by a large majority, ac- 
cording to the Courier, after "one of the most eloquent and ani- 
mated debates that has taken place on the floor for many years." ' 
In the Senate it became law only by a vote of 22 to 19.* Even before 
its passage some of the forthcoming evil effects were plainly dis- 
cernible in this wild rush to embark capital in cotton and negroes. 
The diversified industries which had given a solid basis to industrial 
conditions in the State were from this time neglected, the raising of 
stock to a great extent was abandoned and the price of beef rose to 
an alarming figure. The strength of the soil was to be speedily 
exhausted; while the manufacturing interests of the North were 
to fasten on the product Hke leeches, determined to have their share. 



* Courier, July 20, 1818. 

' City Gazette, Dec. 12, 1818. 



* Courier, Dec. 12, 1818. 

* Ihid., Dec. 8, 1818. 



AFTER THE WAR OF 1812 81 

and more if they could extract it. Before a score of years had 
passed, practically all the temporary benefits had vanished, the 
relations between the State and Federal governments were strained 
to the breaking point, the leadership of the Union was exchanged 
for a triumph, which inevitably led to secession and defeat and an 
overwhelming population of shiftless negroes. What interest would 
there not attach to the argument of these three opponents of the 
bill at that time, before they could have been affected by the influence 
of a crystallized public opinion? Of Hayne's, we can only judge 
from subsequent utterances, when conditions were different; but 
even then they give some idea of his wise and penetrating judgment 
on this subject. Now, however, elected unanimously to the office of 
Attorney-General of the State, his career in the Legislature ended 
with his carrying through the bill, defining slander, by a majority 
of 23.^ 

* Ciiy Gazette, Dec. 21, 1818. 



CHAPTER VI 

HAYNE AS ATTORNEY-GENERAL. LETTERS TO CHEVES. REPUB- 
LICAN PARTY IN NATION BROKEN INTO FACTIONS. CONDI- 
TIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA 

Hayne's first duty as Attorney-General was the prosecution 
of John Edwards, at the January term of the court at Charleston 
on account of his duel with Dennis O'Driscoll, in which the 
latter had been slain. Three witnesses had been called by the 
Attorney- General and asked: "Have you at any time heard the 
defendant acknowledge that he had sent a challenge to the late 
Mr. Dennis O'Driscoll, or accepted one from him, or fought a 
duel with him?" The witnesses had all objected to answering, 
on the ground that the answer would tend to criminate them, and 
against the contention of the Attorney- General that an answer to 
this question could in no way criminate them, the presiding judge, 
Nott, sustained them in their refusal, deciding that they were the 
proper judges as to whether an answer would criminate them; 
and the witnesses being thus excluded, the defendant was acquitted. 
Hayne promptly appealed, moving for a new trial on three grounds : 
ist: "Because His Honor mistook the law in refusing to compel 
the witnesses to answer the question put by the State. 2d: Be- 
cause the answer to the question could not criminate the witnesses, 
and of this the Court (and not the witnesses) was to judge. 3d : 
Because the operation of the decision must not only destroy the 
Duelling Law but will protect all reluctant witnesses in every 
criminal case." ^ In an opinion of rather subtle reasoning, Judge 

* State vs. Edwards, Nott and McCord's Reports, Vol. 2, p. 13. 

82 



AS ATTORNEY-GENERAL 83 

Nott was sustained; but the court found some difficulty in disposing 
satisfactorily of the third ground, declaring only that it did "not 
conceive the doctrine calculated (as was contended) to protect 
reluctant witnesses generally. For it is clear," says the court, 
"that if a witness swear, he may be implicated in the guilt of the 
accused, if he answer and this afterwards appear to be false, he 
would be liable to an indictment for perjury." There was no dis- 
sent ; but in the subsequent case of Poole vs. Perritt ' based on it, 
two out of the five judges did dissent. Following this case came the 
very next month the trial of Martin and Michael Touhey for the 
murder of Mr. Gadsden, where the Attorney-General had against 
him William Lance, B. F. Hunt and William Crafts, the result of 
the trial being the conviction of one of murder and the other, man- 
slaughter.2 ^j^^ l-j^jg seems to have been accomphshed without 
any great degree of friction, although Lance and Crafts were men 
of learning and eloquence; while Hunt is described by William 
Grayson, in his memoir of James L. Petigru, as an exceedingly 
formidable adversary, "able speaker and good lawyer; bold, 
ready, regardless of respect to opposing counsel, witnesses or cli- 
ents, and unscrupulous as to the language in which he expressed 
his contempt ; skilled in cajoling the jury and bullying the judge." ' 
These were the criminal cases which immediately occupied Hayne's 
attention in the first months of the year 18 19. On the civil side 
of the court he was from the very outset also engaged as counsel in 
cases of magnitude and far-reaching effect; but before alluding 
further to these, a survey of conditions beyond the border of the 
State is necessary. 

Having launched his Bank scheme and suggested his inquiry 
as to the appropriateness of utilizing the bonus or net profits there- 

1 Poole vs. Perritt, Spear's Reports, Vol. i, p. 128. 

' City Gazette, Feb. i, 1819. 

» Grayson, "Memoir of James L. Petigru," p. 89. 



84 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

from, Mr. Calhoun had brought to a close with the session of 1816 
his brief but brilliant career in Congress, and accepting the position 
of Secretary of War in Monroe's cabinet, was about to commence 
a career as an administrative officer, quite as remarkable. According 
to Walsh's American Register, at this period of his life, Novem- 
ber 17, 1817, "he had shone on every occasion, which called for an 
appeal to general principles and for enlarged views of policy;" ^ 
but strong as he was, he was not the all-powerful force he subse- 
quently became in South Carolina, and in State and nation his 
influence was inferior to that of William Lowndes, to whom Monroe 
had previously offered the Secretaryship. Again the elevation from 
the bench to a seat in the United Stales Senate of that rugged, ag- 
gressive, able individual, William Smith, could not by any stretch 
of imagination be considered the promotion of a supporter, but 
rather one who would look upon him as a junior. In addition to 
this, although Calhoun could not with any justice be held respon- 
sible for the mismanagement of the Bank, yet the fact that it was 
not a success reacted on the reputation of the statesman most 
instrumental in putting it in operation. Indeed, there was 
an attempt in Congress to repeal the law, and the Bank was only 
saved through the persuasive personality of Lowndes ^ and the rare 
business ability of Cheves, raised to the presidency of the institu- 
tion. 

On the face of affairs, South Carolina seemed prosperous. Cot- 
ton was selling at 52 to 54 cents for Sea Islands, 26 to 27 cents for 
Uplands.^ Rice was bringing from 5I to 6 cents, and tobacco, 
ID to 12 cents per pound; but the market was getting dull and 
already there had started that movement of whites to the South- 
west,^ destined to reduce the white population below the black. 

* City Gazette, Nov. 29, 1817. « Ibid., Feb. 18, 1819. 
' Ibid., Jan. 4, 181 9. 

* John C. Calhoun to James E. Calhoun, "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 173. 





i8i9. 



AS ATTORNEY-GENERAL 85 

A letter written from Hayne to Mr. Cheves at this time throws 
some light on the conditions of the period : — 

"Charleston, 226. Feb., 1819. 
" My dear Sir : — 

" You must give me leave to congratulate you most sincerely on 
your election to the Presidency of the Bank, inasmuch as the situa- 
tion was one which you were willing to accept and which I there- 
fore presume was more desirable than the station you lately held 
among us. I can never cease to regret, however that So. Carolina 
should have lost you, though the Union be the gainer & were I less 
your friend than I truly am, my selfish feelings would induce me 
rather to regret than rejoice at your promotion. I can however 
truly say, I have your happiness too much at heart to hesitate for 
a moment in wishing all your views accomplished — I know they 
all tend to the public good — The station you now occupy must 
bring with it many distracting cares — I believe the Bank to be 
too deeply affected by recent mismanagement to admit of any 
speedy or effectual relief — And I fear also the pecuniary resources 
of the country have reed, a shock from the state of the specie market 
from which it cannot soon recover — On that subject will you per- 
mit me to suggest, as hints for speculation merely, some ideas 
which have lately made some impression on my mind. I am wholly 
ignorant of the subject, have made it no part of my course of study 
& therefore the ideas I am about to throw out are intended merely 
as matters for your reflection. It appears to me, that specie has 
for a few years past been rapidly diminishing in every part of the 
U. S. In this City I know it has diminished greatly in the last 
12 months — It has done so I am informed in every City in America 
and continues to do so — Unless the tide turns speedily (of which 
I see no prospect) the inevitable result must be the loss of the whole 
of it. Long before that period shall arrive, however, the Banks 



86 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



must stop specie payments. Indeed while specie bears a premium, 
no bank can transact business to any extent — Suppose a Bank to 
have $1,000,000 in specie and to issue bills to that amount only — 
if specie is at a premium these bills will be returned on the Bank 
and every dollar of the specie taken out. So that a Bank must 
stop all business ( & in that case it cannot exist) or lose all its specie. 
There are checks on this draft for specie — but while the Banks 
as well as Individuals are all hot in the pursuit of specie — the 
result is inevitable. We have now in this city agents for Virginia 
Banks buying up Bank notes & drawing out specie — It seems to 
me, that the final result will be a stoppage of specie paymts by 
all the Banks & then we will find it necessary to follow the example 
of G. B. & deal on paper — The time is approaching rapidly when 
Gold & Silver will be regarded as merchandize only & bills will 
become the current coin & only representative of property — Sup- 
pose the capital of a Bank to consist of $1,000,000 of Government 
stock & that on this they were strictly limited to the issue of Bills 
to the amount of a million and a half — might not such bills 
constitute a circulating medium & be a legal tender? Further, 
suppose part of the capital of such a Bank to consist of real and per- 
sonal estate of a certain value, or of the notes of individuals (which 
would represent and bind their property), would it not be as good 
as specie? On this system too specie being merely an article of 
trade, would soon cease to be above par & would circulate freely 
in the community. If specie were not essential to Banks, we would 
have it in abundance — The danger of an excessive issue of paper 
might be guarded against by constitutional & legal checks. To 
produce these changes may require a combination of all the states 
— perhaps of nations — but it seems to me to this we must come 
unless we can by some means draw specie into the Country. The 
people of Charleston are suffering most severely from the draft 
of mother Bank. I am sorry you will on your arrival meet a pro- 



AS ATTORNEY-GENERAL 87 

test from our directors on this subject — the truth is that every 
$100,000. drawn in that way from the City has injured us more than 
the loss of a million of property — in the precautionary measures 
it has rendered necessary on the part of the Banks. Our produce 
will be down to nothing — The people of Charleston complain 
that their zeal in supporting and subscribing to the Bank — their 
paying every cent of their subscription in specie — their careful 
mode of doing business, has only had the effect of draining the City 
of its specie, to supply the places where the same careful and hon- 
orable course has not been pursued. The Directors at Pennsyl- 
vania seem resolved, that there shall be a community of suffering 
& the innocent must share with the guilty. Savanna has dis- 
counted more injudiciously than Charleston, ergo the latter must 
supply the former. It is ever to be lamented that such a state of 
things exist — I fear another draft from Pa., under existing cir- 
cumstances will produce many resignations at our board. I have 
ventured to throw out these ideas — I do not desire you to give one 
of them a second thought, much less to reply to them but possibly 
they may suggest some hint of which your more experienced mind 
may make good use — if so, my object is attained. . . ." ^ 

The foregoing letter to Mr. Cheves was followed by another 
within the week, wherein Hayne sets out some difficulties which 
have arisen through the Directors at Philadelphia having ordered 
the abolition of the ofhce of solicitor he holding that office for the 
branch at Charleston. From this it appears that the arrangement 
under which he so held provided that his salary should be $500 
a year, the Bank to be liable for no costs ; but the solicitor to pay 
those of clerk and sheriff when defendant was insolvent.^ By 
the change he argued that the Bank would lose, which seems a 
reasonable supposition. The value to him of the salary was the 
certainty and the freedom from the necessity of fixing charges. 

' Original letter in possession of Langdon Cheves, Esq. ' Ibi4. 



88 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Under date of April 30, he writes again, a letter wholly occupied 
with private business to the conclusion, which is, "The com- 
mercial distress here is very great — tho the presence of Mr. Mon- 
roe seems for the moment to make us lose sight of it." ^ 

As, in the newspaper accounts of President Monroe's visit to 
Charleston, Hayne's name does not appear on any committees, 
this probably was the period of the loss of his wife, the daughter of 
Charles Pinckney. 

In the nation, the great and powerful Republican party was 
splitting into fragments, ranged behind the group of leaders who 
had directed it against the Federalists. Clay was in open oppo- 
sition to the administration ; ^ Crawford, although in the cabinet, 
an aspirant for the Presidential nomination, with Calhoun and 
Adams in close touch, favorable to a second term for the incum- 
bent. 

With that supreme self-confidence which so often betrayed him. 
Clay determined to sweep from his path the hero of New Orleans. 
Pressing an inquiry concerning the seizure of the Spanish forts 
by the latter in Florida, he only obtained for him a justification 
m.arked by a vote in the House of 100 to 70,^ thereby drawing into 
public observation another possible Presidential candidate. 

This in all probability was the year in which Robert Y. Hajme 
first met General Jackson. In a letter, a score of years later, 
his brother, Arthur P. Hayne, states that his first meeting with 
Jackson in Tennessee was in 1820; but the mistake of one year 
is natural, and in this year Hayne travelled through the West and 
was in Tennessee. It seems hardly likely that such an elaborate 
journey as a trip from South Carolina through Alabama, Tennes- 
see and Kentucky should have been made two years in succession 
by a busy young attorney ; but of course it is possible, and it must 

* Original letter in possession of Langdon Cheves, Esq., dated April 30, 1819. 
' Courier, June 19, 1818. ^ City Gazette, Feb. 17, 1819. 



AS ATTORNEY-GENERAL 89 

be admitted, that a meeting with the subsequent destroyer of the 
Bank, the most distinguished soldier in America of that day, would 
have been apt to have left an impression sufficiently strong as to 
have been a subject alluded to in his letters of that year, upon his 
return, to Mr. Cheves. No mention of Jackson appears, however. 
On the 24th of June, 1819, Hayne writes from Charleston : " I have 
made my arrangements for a tour to the West this summer — the 
nature of our climate seems to require occasional relaxation of this 
kind — I propose in consequence of some important business 
confided to my care to pass thro the Alabama territory & will 
leave this in a few days." Three months and a half later he writes 
from Pendleton Courthouse, October 9, 1819: — 

"My DEAR Sir: — 

"I wrote you from Charleston of my intention of visiting the 
western country this summer, since which of course I have not 
had the pleasure of hearing from you. The very difficult and 
arduous station you now occupy at the head of an Institution beset 
with so many difficulties, induced me to be an attentive observer 
of everything in the Western Country, calculated to advance the 
Interests of that Institution. As I think it of some importance that 
you should be advised of the state of affairs in that country, I now 
sit down for the express purpose of giving you the result of my 
observations. I have found in general, that the bank of the U. S. 
is unpopular — but it gives me the highest satisfaction to add, that 
the public confidence in yourself personally is very great and the 
prevailing opinion everywhere is, that the affairs of the Bank will 
in future be honestly and ably conducted. In Kentucky the opera- 
tion of the "Independent Banks" and the general ruin produced 
by their failure, has had a tendency I think to make the Bank of 
the U. S. rather more popular — But the constant cry of the friends 
of the Banks is that the U. S. Bank has alone produced the failure 



90 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

of the former and all the evils now felt in the State. By continued 
and ingenious efforts, it may happen that the people may be led 
to take the same view of the subject & should they find themselves 
supported by public opinion, some violent act will probably mark 
the proceedings of their next Legislature. The avowed and secret 
enemies of the Bank of the U. S. in Kentucky will, I think, com- 
pose a majority of the next Legislature — One influential man 
distinctly stated to me, that he was in favor of driving out the Bank 
by force of arms ; and the sufferings of the people are now so great, 
that artful men have the most inflammable materials to work 
upon. In Tennessee the feeling against the Bank is not so strong 
or so general — but most certainly the state of the public mind 
would not at present render it expedient to establish a Branch 
among them. In Alabama such alarm prevails on the score of the 
evils of our banking & the paper system, that constitutional pro- 
visions have been adopted to prevent their introduction. The 
Bank of the U. S. is not unpopular there & it appears to me that 
a Branch could now be established at Cahaba the seat of govern- 
ment with every reasonable prospect of success. Cahaba is de- 
cidedly the best place for such an institution — it will be the 
center of commerce & must become a considerable town. At 
present a Bank would add to its importance and therefore would 
be popular & a Branch of your Bank would be the most popular 
of any — On this subject I would advise you to consult with 
Col. John Taylor, now in Philadelphia who can give the best 
information in relation to it. I am satisfied that a removal of the 
Kentucky banks to Alabama would be attended by beneficial 
results, the profits would be greater and the people of Kentucky 
would see the falsehood of the representation now making to them. 
In South Carolina I think the U. S. Bank not unpopular in the back 
country & nothing is to be feared from the Legislature of this 
state unless unfavorable representations should be made by the 



AS ATTORNEY-GENERAL 91 

President & Directors of our State Bank, in Charleston. That 
Bank is you know the favorite child of the State & the confidence 
reposed in Mr. Elliott is so great, that any statement coming from 
him will be deemed conclusive. I certainly deem it of the last 
importance to preserve a good understanding with that Bank. 
Nothing short of absolute necessity should produce a breach with 
them, the consequences would be unpleasant. These few hints are 
suggested merely for your consideration & I by no means desire 
you to give yourself the trouble of explaining your views on the 
subject. I avoid more minute details to prevent my trespassing 
on your time — This has been a summer of great distress in 
Charleston & it seems Pa. had had its share — our friend Mr. 
Simons has been numbered with the dead. The intelligence of 
this melancholy event has filled my heart with sorrow. I may 
truly say I had an affection for him — You probably are aware 
that he was destined to fill the vacancy occasioned by your resig- 
nation on the Bench. His success was reduced to a certainty. In 
this point of view, his loss is I fear irreparable. The two vacancies 
on the Bench will now be filled from the following list of candidates, 
viz: Blanding, Starke, D. R. Evans, Clarke and Ellison — I have 
myself no views of that nature. The Bar must command my 
attention for several years to come, etc." 



n 1 



From his elevation to the bench in 1816 and removal from the 
State in this year, 18 19, what influence Cheves might have wielded 
was disposed of. Senator Smith represented the extreme State 
Rights view, to which Crawford inclined. Clay, and later Adams, 
had some followers ; but the State was friendly to the liberal view 
represented by Calhoun, and with even greater influence by William 
Lowndes. Yet we see, from the above letter of Hayne, that with 
regard to financial matters, the opinion of Elliott, whom Lowndes 

* Original in possession of Langdon Cheves, Esq. 



92 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

had defeated for Congress some five years previous, was conclusive. 
From these facts, and from an argument made this year by Hayne, 
which drew from Judge Nott a most remarkable political opinion, 
we might assume that politics in South Carolina were in a state of 
flux, liable to be affected by any incident which might bring about 
a decided trend in any direction. This makes Nott's opinion all 
the more interesting. 



CHAPTER VII 



JUDGE NOTT'S OPINION ON NULLIFICATION 

Cases with which he probably was connected before he became 
Attorney- General were argued before the Appellate Court by 
Hayne after his advancement in this year of 1819, and in not a 
few he was either associated with or in opposition to that distin- 
guished lawyer, about to be elevated to the bench, whose death 
he mentioned to Mr. Cheves in the fall of the year. The case 
of Alexander vs. Gibson, argued by Hayne in conjunction with 
K. L. Simons on a motion for a new trial, had so impressed Judge 
Cheves, then on the bench, that he had found it necessary to ex- 
press his opinion on many of the constitutional points involved,^ but 
the case of Bulow and Potter vs. The City Council,^ at which hear- 
ing he does not seem to have been present, presented even greater 
and more important questions to the court. In that case, by an 
ordinance of the City Council of Charleston, an assessment of one- 
half per cent was directed to be made on all Bank stock owned 
within the city, to be valued at one-half, except that which was 
exempted from taxation by acts of the Legislature, which excep- 
tion did not include United States Bank stock. Under the authority 
of this ordinance, an assessment was made on the plaintiffs, who 
were citizens and residents within the city of Charleston, on ac- 
count of United States Bank stock, to a considerable extent owned 
by them; and on application to the Circuit Court an order was 

* Alexander vs. Gibson, Nott and McCord's Reports, Vol. i, p. 480. 
' Nott and McCord's Reports, Vol. i, p. 527. 

93 



94 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



obtained that a writ of prohibition issue to restrain the City Coun- 
cil from the collection of the assessment. 

It was an odd coincidence that William Drayton, who subse- 
quently left the city and State on account of nullification, was at 
that time the Recorder, or legal adviser, of the city, and still more 
interesting that he should have called to his assistance of all men, 
Robert Y. Hayne. The plaintiffs, however, had strong counsel, 
K. L. Simons being one, and the Attorney- General was called upon 
to assist counsel for the city. A motion was made to reverse the 
order on the ground that the ordinance was within the powers of 
the Council, and neither repugnant to, nor inconsistent with, the 
laws of the land. For the motion, it was contended, that the Bank 
was a "great monied monopoly, which in the hands of the General 
Government would become a gulph in the vortex of which every 
minor institution would be swallowed up." It was compared to 
the lever of Archimedes, by which the constitutions of the States 
might be overturned. From the above it is apparent that the argu- 
ment took a wide range, but the motion to reverse the order of 
prohibition was sustained in a clear and luminous opinion, by Judge 
Johnson as neither repugnant to, nor inconsistent with, the laws 
of the land, in which he stated with the concurrence of all of the 
members of the court, except Judge Nott, " that the case does not 
present a question as to the exercise of inconsistent powers between 
the State authority and that of the United States ; but between the 
State and its citizens, or, in other words, whether the State authority 
has a right to draw on the sources of the wealth of its citizens 
to support and defray the expenses of the government?" While 
declaring it not within the sphere of a court of justice, the judge 
deprecated the policy of the ordinance. From the opinion of the 
majority. Judge Nott dissented. Excusing himself from express- 
ing at the time anything but the most prominent grounds of his 
dissent, he declared: "I consider it the most important question 



JUDGE NOTT'S OPINION ON NULLIFICATION 95 

that has occupied the attention of this court, since I have had the 
honor of a seat on the bench, and I therefore approach it with more 
than ordinary diffidence and solicitude." As will be remembered, 
Judge Nott had been elevated to the bench eight years previously, just 
about the time of the Faneuil Hall nullification resolutions at Boston,^ 
which had been indorsed with that threat of forcible resistance, 
giving to them a life nothing of the kind previously had possessed. 
The successful close of the War of 181 2 had probably saved a struggle 
over nullification and probably secession many decades before they 
both came; but an impression with regard to the nature of the 
Union had been created by this threat, and the vote by which 
Quincy's appeal from the decision of the Speaker, ruling out of 
order an assertion of the right of secession, had been sustained, which 
was absolutely at variance with the conception of the Union set forth 
by Charles Pinckney at the time of the adoption of the Constitution 
in 1788.^ Nott's view was in accord with that of Pinckney as 
then stated. "It is not," says he, "merely a question whether the 
City Council has the power to impose a tax on Bank stock. Neither 
is it a question between the United States and an individual State. 
But the real question which we are called upon to decide is, whether 
when Congress has adopted a measure confessedly within its ju- 
risdiction, any corporate body existing under the authority of a 
State, and having the power to pass by-laws, may by one of its 
ordinances directly defeat such Act of the General Government? 
The great objects of the federal compact are declared to be 'to 
form a more perfect union, to establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general 
welfare and secure the blessings of liberty.' To effect these great 
and important objects, certain powers are delegated to the General 
Government; and it seems now to be admitted by all the com- 
mentators on the Federal Constitution, that where the exercise of 

^Courier, April 23, 1811. ^ State Gazette, June 9, 1788. 



96 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

any power by a State is inconsistent with or incompatible with 
such delegation, it must be considered as exclusively granted to the 
General Government. It is also further declared that Congress 
shall have power to pass all laws necessary to carry into effect all 
the powers so delegated by the Constitution. . . . For what pur- 
pose let it be asked does the Constitution contain such a provision, 
if the operation of any Act of Congress may be defeated by an Act 
emanating from the authority of a State? If such is the situation 
of our Government, it does appear to me the people of the United 
States have failed in the attempt to effect, at least, one of the great 
and avowed objects of the Confederation, that of securing to them- 
selves and their posterity, ' domestic tranquillity. ' I cannot conceive 
a more effectual source of domestic discord than a power in the 
States to resist or defeat the operation of a Constitutional Act of 
the General Government." He then argues that a court is con- 
cerned in some cases with the policy of a measure before it, because 
"we can consider the old law, the mischief existing under it, and 
the remedy intended to be applied. . . ." Then, after declaring 
that the constitutionality of a State law is tested by its compati- 
bility with the powers rightfully held by Congress, he closes that 
branch of his opinion with this sentence : "Two conflicting powers, 
tending to neutralize each other, cannot exist together in any 
Government." In an exceedingly clear discussion of the correc- 
tion of evil, he maintains: "If the powers of Congress are too 
great, they may be abridged by an amendment of the Constitution. 
If they are abused, they may be corrected by a change of repre- 
sentation. If they are exceeded, they may be controlled by the 
judiciary. But to give to one Government the power of passing 
laws, and to another the right to resist them, or to defeat their 
operations, or rather to give to a Government a power to legislate 
and to a single member or branch of it to defeat its acts, would be 
like harnessing horses to the hindmost part of the carriage to check 



JUDGE NOTT'S OPINION ON NULLIFICATION 97 

the impetuosity of those in front. It would necessarily lead to a 
contest for power. And whether the machine would move for- 
ward or go backward or be torn asunder in the struggle, would 
depend on the relative force of the conflicting powers." Judge 
Nott had no idea that by the adoption of the Federal Constitution 
we became dwellers in Utopia. Far from it; for in all sincerity 
he continues: "That our liberties may be destroyed by an abuse 
of the power vested in Congress, I admit. Too liberal a use of the 
single power to raise armies might prostrate the liberties of the 
American people. There is no good government which has not 
the power to destroy the liberties of the people. No government 
can be good which has not such power. Without the power to 
destroy, the government could not possess the means to protect 
our liberties." But he says he forbears to press the argument 
further, hoping he may be mistaken in the view he has taken ; but 
declaring in conclusion that if he is not, and the decision "goes to 
establish the principle that any body emanating from the author- 
ity of a State may undertake to judge of the policy of an Act of 
Congress, which is admitted to be constitutional and may adopt 
such contravailing measures as have a direct tendency to defeat 
its operation or to prevent it from being carried into effect, these 
United States may bid farewell, a long farewell, to all their great- 
ness." ^ This opinion of Judge Nott is in exact accord with the 
view of Charles Pinckney before quoted in part, even to that claim 
for the General Government of the necessary power to protect the 
liberties of the citizens. 

Says Pinckney, in that great speech: "To the Union we will 
look up as to the temple of our freedom — a temple founded in 
the affection and supported by the virtues of the people — here we 
will pour out our gratitude to the author of all good for suffering 

* Bulow and Potter vs. City Council, Nott and McCord's Reports, Vol. i, pp. 531- 
536. 

H 



98 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

US to participate in the rights of a people who govern themselves. 
Is there at this moment a nation upon earth that enjoys this right, 
where the true principles of representation are understood and 
practised and where all authority flows from and returns to the 
people? I answer there is not. Can a government be said to 
be free where these rights do not exist? It cannot. On what 
depends the enjoyment of these rare inestimable privileges — on 
the firmness, on the power of the union to protect and defend 
them." ' 

So much for the question of the nature of the Union. But 
to pass from it in its whole, and consider that of comity between 
the States, we find that even the brilliant but extreme McDuffie, 
who with Lance and Witherspoon had contended in opposition to 
Hayne, Simons and Huger for the right to bring, without special 
license from the Legislature, such slaves as were desired, from other 
States or from Territories, now sought to amend the bill prohibiting 
the introduction of free persons of color by excepting its applica- 
tion from such as hailed from States where they enjoyed the rights 
of citizens. It is true that the amendment was voted down; but 
at the same time an effort was made, and successfully, to secure more 
severe penalties for the killing of negroes, the fine being raised from 
;^5o to $1000, together with twelve months' imprisonment and the 
incapacity of the convict to hold any office of profit or trust in the 
State ; ^ so that it is apparent that while for industrial development, 
against the advice of the wisest, slaves were brought in without 
restriction from other States and Territories, yet a humanitarian 
spirit was in growth with regard to their treatment, and among the 
leaders a desire to consider the views with regard to the race in 
States where a sincere desire was evinced to uplift the freedman. 
This spirit was pretty well burnt out of the South by the flaming 
debate which blazed up in Congress at this session. 

* State Gazette, June 9, 1788. * City Gazette, Dec. 4, 1819. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE RISE OF THE NEGRO QUESTION AND ITS COROLLARY, THE 

TARIFF 

On December 22, 1819, Taylor of New York moved the amend- 
ment which precipitated the great debate, occupying the session 
and culminating in the Missouri Compromise. This debate was 
in every sense of the word exhaustive. From the speeches which 
have been preserved, almost every possible phase of the question 
seems to have been considered. The division was not absolutely 
sectional, a few Northerners, as, for instance, Baldwin of Penn- 
sylvania and Holmes of Massachusetts, spoke and voted against 
the amendment, just as Ervin of South Carolina voted for the 
proposed Baldwin tariff, introduced the same session; but the 
vast preponderance of the votes for the amendment prohibiting 
slavery in Missouri and for the increased duties under the Baldwin 
bill were from the North and West, those in opposition from the 
South. The speeches on the Missouri question were many of them 
lengthy, that of Mr. Sergeant of Pennsylvania occupying five hours 
arifi forty minutes.^ This speech for the amendment was the one 
of greatest length; but Lowndes, Clay and Holmes against it, 
each spoke for more than three hours, and Smyth of Virginia, on 
the same side, for four hours and a half. Taylor, the mover of the 
amendment, spoke for almost two hours, and Charles Pinckney, 
most interestingly for fifty minutes. Pinckney's speech is chiefly in- 
teresting and valuable on account of the historical data it supplies 

' City Gazette, March 9, 1820. 
99 



V, 



lOO ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

on many interesting points; but his main contention, that Congress 
did not have the power to impose the restriction, came too late. 
Congress had before exercised the power of admitting a State under 
what restrictions it saw fit to impose, as for instance, in 1811, when, 
against the protest of Fisk of New York, the amendment of the 
Senate to the House bill, with regard to the Orleans territory, had 
been the imposition of a condition, viz., the confining of the 
privilege to "white" free male inhabitants. Fisk had contended, 
with apparently but little fact as a basis, that "in almost all the 
States free persons, whether black or white or colored, if they had 
the proper qualifications otherwise, were allowed to vote"; but 
with scarcely any discussion the majority asserted the power of 
Congress to make the condition in that territory that the voter 
should be white. To come even closer, however, John Randolph, 
a vehement opponent of the amendment, had at the outset of the 
discussion mined the position of his own side by suggesting to 
Taylor that the latter had, in that portion of his motion which con- 
cerned the inhabitants of the territory, omitted the word "white," ^ 
which Taylor agreed to correct without apparently realizing its 
value to his own side. On the other hand, inasmuch as the matter 
was finally settled by a compromise, by which Missouri and all 
the territory to the southward of 36°3o' was admitted free of the 
restriction, which the amendment aimed to impose, the argument 
of Sergeant ("that any compromise that would give slavery to 
Missouri is impossible," for the reason that, without the amend- 
ment, "Missouri, when she becomes a State, grows out of the 
Constitution; is formed under the care of Congress; admitted by 
Congress; and has a right to establish slavery, derived directly 
from the Constitution, conferred upon her through the instru- 
mentality of Congress") ^ becomes a boomerang. 

In the opinion of the editor of Niles's Register, Speaker Clay 
' City Gazette, March 8, 1820. ^ Niles's Register, Vol. 18, pp. 379-383. 



THE RISE OF THE NEGRO QUESTION loi 

and Mr. Lowndes were the most powerful opponents to the amend- 
ment.^ In the case of the latter, the fact that his speech has been 
lost is certainly to be regretted ; for he was at this time distinctly 
the strongest representative in Congress. 

A sketch of the Speaker and Mr. Lowndes as they appeared to 
a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, just at this time, is not 
without historical interest as the view of a contemporary actor 
close enough to both to see their defects clearly as well as the 
elements of strength and statesmanship. Here is how the two 
appear to him: "Mr. Clay is warm, vehement and when fairly 
engaged almost headlong in his eloquence. To use a backwoods 
simile, he seems as though he would fly off the helve during the 
paroxysms of eloquence. He sometimes descends to mimic the 
manner of his opponents, and yet if the waggery were retorted upon 
him, it would certainly exhibit a scene no less ludicrous. The lan- 
guage of Mr. Clay, though seldom select and scarcely ever classi- 
cally polished, is always forcible. He is unquestionably a powerful 
speaker and will always have considerable influence in a popular 
assembly. . . . Mr. Lowndes is undoubtedly the most influential 
member in the House of Representatives. His eloquence is neither 
showy nor graceful ; but his mildness and candor, superadded to 
the useful information which he brings into the discussion of every . 
important topic, win upon the confidence of the House and give 
a weight to his opinions which can never be acquired by declama- 
tory vehemence nor pointed sarcasm. Mr. Lowndes stands, as it 
were, on the isthmus between the contending parties in the hall, 
and by means of his influence which he has obtained is enabled to 
moderate the dashing of the billows on either hand. A suggestion 
from him will often avert a proposition of menacing aspect and 
change the direction of a debate which promised nothing better than 
angry repartees or noisy harangues. Such men are not only 

1 Ibid., Vol. 1 8, p. 449- 



I02 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

valuable to their immediate constituents, but to the nation at 
large." ^ 

The full report of the speech of such a man on such a subject 
would be worth much. In the "Life and Times of William 
Lowndes" the author states, "In this controversy, Mr. Lowndes at 
first spoke but little;" ^ but from the press of the day it seems he 
spoke for three hours and ten minutes,^ and his effort shared with 
that of Clay the honor of being in the opinion of an able opponent 
the strongest against the amendment. That it was essentially 
different from that of Clay, there is every reason to believe, from 
the difference between the men, and in all probability it was tem- 
perate, philosophical and illuminating. Sergeant of Pennsyl- 
vania undoubtedly made a powerful speech in favor of the amend- 
ment ; but as has been shown, he pushed the argument too far for 
the subsequent retreat. However, without attempting to question 
the sincerity of most of the speakers, there was some truth in the 
assertion of the National Intelligencer, that " the balance of power 
vibrates, and the feelings of our politicians vibrate in sympathy." * 
In perfect accord with what seems to be the wisest speech now 
obtainable in full, that of Mr. Tucker of Virginia, the same paper 
declares: "It is yet attempted to impress the public mind in de- 
fiance of repeated contradictions, that this is a question which 
involves an extension of slavery, that is of the multiplication of 
slaves in our country. Once for all no such question is presented 
to the consideration of Congress. The question only concerns the 
diffusion or the concentration of slaves now in this country. There 
is not in the Congress of the United States a single individual who 
would raise his hand in favor of authorizing the introduction of 
slaves into the United States or, in other words, in favor of the ex- 

^ City Gazette, March lo, 1820. 

^ "Life and Times of William Lowndes," p. 207. 

^ City Gazette, March 9, 1820. * Ibid., Feb. 5, 1820. 



THE RISE OF THE NEGRO QUESTION 103 

tension of slavery." In all fairness it must be admitted that might 
be ; but if there were some outside of Congress, such would not be 
powerless and those who for industrial reasons were ready to bring 
them in from other States and Territories, to States where they were 
already in immense numbers, might have become as blind to the 
evil of bringing them in from outside as they were to this very 
concentration. But after all said, that it was in the main the ques- 
tion of political power which agitated the North, subsequent events 
seem to have indicated beyond any reasonable doubt, however 
the representatives may have failed to realize it. The peoples of 
the Northern States had, when it was to their interest to do so, 
entered into the most intimate relations with peoples in whose 
territories this "great evil" existed and recognized it. Nay, more, 
while praying for deliverance, in the language of Mr. Sergeant, 
from "this staining sin," industriously occupied themselves with 
framing a protective tariff which should enable them to reap their 
full share or more of the produce, which the labor of "these un- 
fortunates" brought into existence. From such lips the warning 
against "what cupidity may win or necessity extort" ^ and exhor- 
tations against "the sordid appetite"^ must have been hard to 
bear with patience. The very subsidence of this intense feeling 
was contemporaneous with the march of progressive tariffs, nor 
did it again flame out, with a dangerous blaze, until by nullifica- 
tion the tariff was scotched. 

It is a tribute to the far-reaching influence of South Carolina's 
greatest son, that throughout all this contention he could preserve 
the respect and affection of all members. A curious little parenthet- 
ical clause in the reports of congressional proceedings indicates 
the correctness of the estimate of the Pennsylvania representative 
above mentioned with regard to him : " On motion of Mr. Lowndes 
(who by usage has the floor) ^ the committee then rose." He had 

^ Niles's Register, Vol. 18, p. 384. ^ Ibid., Vol. 18, p. 384. 

' City Gazette, Feb. 25, 1820. 



I04 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

opposed the amendment in which the Northern and Western 
members were so interested, and he likewise opposed the increased 
tariff they favored; yet the bare suggestion from him, that Camp- 
bell of Ohio should postpone the bringing forward of some meas- 
ure he was interested in, provoked from the latter the reply that 
it was "difficult to refuse the suggestion of one whose comity was 
so well established." 

It seems to have been the impression that his defeat, for the only 
office he ever desired,^ was due to sectional feeling generated by the 
Missouri debate. And from one of his letters it would look as 
if he thought so himself; but a careful examination of the vote 
for Speaker in November, 1820, is convincing that this is a mistake. 
It was the vote which clung to Smith of Maryland through the 
twenty-three ballots, ranging from 7 to 53, which prevented the 
election of Lowndes, although on the seventeenth ballot, one more 
vote for Lowndes would have made him Speaker. From a com- 
munication to the Baltimore Patriot it would seem that the friends 
of Mr. Lowndes were charged with treating Mr. Smith unfairly; 
but in the opinion of the Baltimore Telegraph,"^ Mr. Smith's course 
in the contest failed to meet with the approval of many of his own 
people. From the first to the fifth ballot, the vote for Lowndes 
rose from 34 to 63, the vote for Smith dropping from 27 to 8 on the 
fourth, Lowndes leading all competitors. Sergeant and Nelson hav- 
ing both dropped out. After this ballot Taylor passed Lowndes, 
and on the second day's balloting Lowndes dropped to 23, while 
Smith rose to 53 ; but as soon as Lowndes dropped to 32, Smith 
rising to 50, Sergeant came out again and in two ballots Smith 
and Taylor both dropped, while Lowndes and Sergeant rose. On 
the fifteenth ballot all dropped save Lowndes, who rose to 55; 
but on the sixteenth, although he gained 13 votes and Smith and 

' "Life and Times of William Lowndes," p. 208. 
^ City Gazette, Nov. 29, 1820. 



THE RISE OF THE NEGRO QUESTION 105 

Sergeant's votes fell, Taylor gained the exact number Smith lost. 
On the seventeenth ballot, Lowndes gained 4 votes, lacking 
one of the requisite number. Smith losing 6, and Sergeant 13, 
Taylor gaining 14. It is pretty evident that Smith's votes swung 
over to Taylor, as soon as Lowndes neared the requisite number, 
and at the close of the second day Little of Maryland moved that 
I the lowest candidate should be dropped. The Clerk of the House, 
against the vehement protest of Randolph, ruled on the point, 
and on the third day, on the third ballot, as soon as Lowndes's 
vote began to drop and Smith's to rise, Taylor was elected.^ 

Taylor was not a strong man, and the next year was defeated 
by P. P. Barbour of Virginia ; but he was estimated above Smith, 
whose strength consisted in what he drew from the abortive caucus 
he had endeavored to handle for Crawford. Not only Lowndes as 
usual, but so many others, had abstained that the caucus only met 
to decide it was inexpedient to meet, and President Monroe's 
renomination had followed. 

In the meantime, however, the Baldwin bill for raising the 
duties on imports had passed the House, and as a hysterical paper 
in Lexington, Kentucky, had declared, been "murdered in the 
Senate by one vote." A campaign in its favor had been at once 
announced by Niles's Register, which asserted that if Congress was 
not compelled at their next session to do something, " the Congress 
which shall be chosen after the next census will." ^ The Missouri 
Compromise had therefore brought about an abatement of the feel- 
ing with regard to the extension of slavery, which was thereby 
blocked. For twelve years, through successive tariffs, the South 
was in the most businesslike way exploited, and then with legis- 
lation to repeal the tariff law, the sentiment against slavery sprang 
up again as an active force. 

' Ibid., Nov. 21, 1820, to Nov. 23, 1820. 
' Niles's Register, Vol. 18, p. 240. 



1 



CHAPTER IX 

THE CHARLESTON MEMORIAL AGAINST THE TARIFF 

Outside of Congress, the eflfort to increase the duties seems to 
have aroused more anxiety than the determination to restrict the 
extension of slavery. Throughout the South, and also in Massa- 
chusetts, meetings were called in opposition. At a meeting called 
in the fall of 1820 at Charleston, South Carolina, the following 
committee was selected to draft a memorial to Congress against 
any increase of protective duties: Stephen Elliott, Honorable 
John S. Richardson, Keating Simons, Thomas Lee, Colonel R. 
Y. Hayne, John Stoney, Daniel Alexander, Colonel John Johnson 
and Duke Goodman.^ The committee was an able one; but on 
such occasions the bulk of the work usually falls to a few, the most 
able or industrious. Stephen Elliott was the chairman, and of his 
wide and varied attainments mention has already been made ; but 
the young Attorney- General of the State, now in his twenty-ninth 
year, had also become a recognized force in the politics of the city 
and State. In the Legislature he had promptly taken and held 
during his short career a commanding position, until he passed 
from the Speakership to the position he now held as the head of the 
bar of South Carolina. His clearness of presentation was so well 
recognized that we are told " the most experienced lawyers at the 
bar, when counsel with him, usually pressed on him this part of their 
common duty." ^ His fairness and temperance of utterance is also 
alluded to as a marked characteristic, and like William Lowndes, 

• City Gazette, Sept. 16, 1820. ^ o'Neall's "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 23. 

106 



THE CHARLESTON MEMORIAL AGAINST THE TARIFF 107 

for whom he had a great admiration, he was more interested in 
performing the duty than securing the praise. Unlike Lowndes, 
however, he had been forced at such an early age to provide for 
himself, that he had been denied that scholarly finish afforded 
by a collegiate course, and his manner of presenting the ideas which 
most profoundly impressed him was by phrases, which seemed to 
develop, in a gradual progression, with every recurrence to the 
subject. His style at this period must to a certain extent, however, 
have been formed, the exuberance of youth and tendency to 
quotation restrained by experience and reliance upon his own 
phraseology. He was, therefore, well equipped to draft the memo- 
rial. There is a certain resemblance to his splendid speech on the 
same subject in the United States Senate in 1824, akhough it falls 
below it in argumentative force and beauty of diction. It bears 
the stamp of the thought to which Judge Nott had alluded as hav- 
ing been pressed upon the consideration of the court in Bulow and 
Potter vs. The City Council by Hayne or Drayton, the latter of 
whom was not of the committee. Lastly, considered hyper- 
critically, there is an occasional paucity of words which Elliott's 
written discourse is free from and the one weak argument in 
Hayne's great speech against Clay in 1832 is here also. All 
these considerations lead to the conclusion that Hayne was quite 
instrumental in framing it ; yet it must be admitted that in a pub- 
lic speech in 1831 he gives Stephen Elliott, who had just died, 
the credit of the composition of it. 

Again, although through all this period the correspondence of 
Calhoun contains not one word on the tariff, and apart from this 
Hayne from the end of 1818, when his career in the legislature 
ended, had less opportunity to distinguish himself than many of 
the brilliant speakers of that body; yet we find in July, 1822, that 
Calhoun, in writing to John Ewing Calhoun concerning the ex- 
piration of the term of Senator William Smith, unreservedly 



lo8 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

declares: "Hayne is the man that ought to be elected. He has 
talents and eloquence, and will honor the State." ^ Hayne there- 
fore had at this period impressed himself upon the Secretary of 
War, who, removed from the State, was less intimately in touch 
with exhibitions of talent, local in their nature, and by what with 
more likelihood than this memorial to Congress? Throughout 
his public addresses we find Hayne always delighting to hold up 
to honor and remembrance the work of others, but never any allu- 
sion to his own past work. Even, therefore, if he had had much 
to do with the framing of the memorial, the fact that the work was 
passed upon and accepted, added to or revised by the chairman, 
would have led him to extend the credit of it to him, especially at 
a period so soon after Elliott's death. But whether the work 
is to be credited entirely to Stephen Elliott, or not unnaturally 
partly at least to Hayne, it is worthy of consideration as the expres- 
sion of South Carolina in this year 1820. 

The memorial opens as follows: "The citizens of Charleston 
have seen with deep regret the efforts which were made at the last 
session of Congress to impose a high rate of duties on all manu- 
factured articles imported into the United States ; efforts made for 
the express and avowed purpose of creating, encouraging and 
supporting in this country great manufacturing establishments; 
of modifying and curtailing extensively our mercantile intercourse 
with foreign nations and forcing from their present employment 
much of the labor and capital of our fellow-citizens. As there is 
much cause to apprehend that this measure will again be presented 
to the consideration of Congress, your memorialists beg leave to 
state the reasons which have led them to view the system as one 
unfavorable to the general interest of the United States; as one 
likely to prove partial in its operation, injurious in its effects, 
uncertain in its results, and which departs equally from the spirit 

' " Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 204. 



t 



THE CHARLESTON MEMORIAL AGAINST THE TARIFF 109 

of our Constitution and the best -established principles of national 
economy. It is a position almost too self-evident for controversy, 
that in every free or well-regulated government, labor and capital 
should be permitted to seek and find their own employment. To 
the sagacity of individuals this trust may be safely committed. 
Government can never regulate to advantage the employment of 
capital because success in the pursuit of wealth in every depart- 
ment of life depends on local circumstances; on minute details; 
on personal exertions which cannot be regulated ; on causes which 
escape those general views, which alone a government can take of 
the transactions of its citizens. It is sufficient that a government 
take care that the employment of each individual shall inflict on 
others or on the community at large no injury, and that each shall 
receive equal and uniform protection. All interference beyond 
this is useless and pernicious." 

Passing on to the main point, the case for a tariff for revenue 
is put in terse legal phrase, as it is put in the great debate with 
Clay twelve years later, a presentment difficult to improve. " Every 
duty on imported commodities operates as a tax on the consumer. 
When these taxes are imposed only to supply the necessary wants 
of the government, they are cheerfully paid; when imposed to 
enrich individuals, we should surely consider well on what grounds 
the claims of such individuals are advanced, we should inquire 
carefully what reciprocal benefits the public will receive." It is 
freely admitted that "domestic manufactures make us independent 
of foreign nations" ; but it is submitted, if this is the real reason 
for them, it would equally apply to the hothouse forcing of the 
culture of sugar, coffee, tea, pepper and other products of the 
tropical countries in the South by governmental aid. Combat- 
ing this argument for independence, the point is pushed too far, 
the case overstated and weakened in the opening: "If every 
nation is dependent that is obliged to purchase the products or 



no ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

manufactures of other climates or countries, every individual must 
be in the same degree dependent who has to purchase the products 
of the labor of other men. There is no distinction in the argument. 
There is no pause until we arrive at that state where each individual 
shall produce for himself every article which he cannot raise or 
fabricate. This will carry us back to the condition in which the 
semi-barbarous people of Europe existed during the pressure of 
the feudal system, when almost all intercourse between individu- 
als and nations was interdicted; when nothing was interchanged 
but injuries, nothing remembered but oppression. How much 
more simple and wise is it for each nation to raise or manufacture 
those articles which are most congenial to its soil and the habits 
of its people and exchange its superfluous productions for the 
productions of other climates and other conditions of society — 
to perpetuate if possible amicable relations with all countries 
by the foremost of all ties, reciprocal advantages, remembering 
always that in proportion as the interchange is free and unrestricted 
will be the mutual benefit it will confer." ^ 

With further elaborations, which space does not permit, an aspect 
of the case is presented which in the light of the subsequent history 
of the tariff might be fairly called prophetic : " The very magnitude 
of the evil prevents a remedy. The amount of capital and the 
number of people engaged in an unprofitable employment may 
render it cruel if not impracticable to withdraw further from it 
that countenance and support by which it was first encouraged 
and the influence which so strong an interest and one so easily 
combined can exert over any government, should render us very 
cautious how we render that a claim, which at first may be regarded 
as a favor. It is in the present instance to the extraordinary com- 
bination of interest and exertions among a class of citizens whose 
pursuits are very distinct and whose title or pretensions are widely 

* City Gazette, Sept. 16, 1820. 



THE CHARLESTON MEMORIAL AGAINST THE TARIFF iii 

dififerent; it is to this demand for indiscriminate encouragement 
that we particularly object. It is this combined effort to force 
our government from its position that we view with apprehension 
and alarm. And when we perceive the difficulty of resisting 
now the applications of this united body of manufacturers, even 
when advancing new and, as we think, unreasonable claims, what 
administration would ever have the power or the resolution of 
withdrawing from them hereafter any privileges which may have 
once been improvidently granted?" ^ 

Strongly as the above is put, it must in fairness be admitted 
that the memorial discloses an incredulity with regard to the growth 
of manufactures which time has demonstrated erroneous, not 
only in the Union, but in the State of South Carolina; yet while 
this attracts attention, we note the warning against ''every system 
of restriction, of monopoly and particular privileges." The Corn 
Laws of Great Britain are also discussed with an accuracy of 
knowledge and soundness of reasoning later amply vindicated 
by the difficulties of that nation. 

The tone of the paper throughout is temperate, especially so 
when we recollect the stormy debate in Congress of that year. 
"We regret that we are compelled to advert to local or sectional 
advantages or view our own interests as distinct from those of any 
other portion of our fellow-citizens ; but the circumstances which 
have been latterly forced upon our attention oblige us to view 
this question in relation to our own immediate interests. . . . To 
manufactures we have no hostility, we would wish to see them 
arise, flourish and attain a vigorous and permanent maturity; 
but we wish to see this advance as our wants, our means and the 
state of our society shall be adapted to their establishment." 

The resolutions appended to the memorial provided for its pres- 
entation in Congress by Charles Pinckney and active propaganda 

* Ibid., Sept. 1 6, 1820. 



112 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

of the sentiments contained therein through the press and, if 
necessary, arrangements for a movement looking to the calling 
of a convention of "delegates from other parts of the Union on 
the subject of the tariff." 

From the above it will appear that Professor Woodrow Wilson 
is not altogether correct in asserting with regard to South Carolina 
that "the Act of 1816 had had little importance for her." * His 
presentation of the reasons why "South Carolina was entitled to 
speak for her sister states," viz., "her exports in 1829 were valued 
at $8,175,586, only Louisiana in the South and New York and 
Massachusetts in the North showed a larger total," ^ is strong as 
far as it goes ; but had he looked closer, he would have found that 
the value of the exports of South Carolina for the year ending Sep- 
tember 30, 1816, amounting to $10,849,409, were in excess of both 
Louisiana and Massachusetts, and second only to New York.^ 
Still that tariff she would not have questioned, probably agreeing 
with Lowndes, that there was "some protection due to infant 
industries, and that the question was, 'What measure of protec- 
tion do they require?'" * But the claim set up in the memorial, 
"that for the last two years the business of the State had been 
affected," ^ would seem to establish that, pari passu with the collect- 
ing of the duties of the tariff of 1816 came a certain business 
depression, and Lowndes, who had brought Clay and Webster 
together to enact that tariff,^ opposed the Baldwin bill of 1820 
on the ground that the increased duties were not necessary, which 
claim seemed fully established by the condition of the manufac- 
turing interests as they were found to be in Philadelphia the follow- 

* Woodrow Wilson, "Division and Reunion," p. 49. 

^ "History of the American People," Vol. 3, p. 285. 

* City Gazette, Feb. 20, 1817; Boston Daily Advertiser, quoted by City Gazette, 
April 17, 1820. 

* "Life and Times of William Lowndes," p. 153. 

^ City Gazette, Sept. 16, 1820. « Ibid., March 28, 1816, 



THE CHARLESTON MEMORIAL AGAINST THE TARIFF 113 

ing year.^ On both questions which had stirred the country so 
deeply there was but the small manifestation of feeling, evinced 
by the strict sectional vote by which Missouri was denied admission, 
until she repealed the provision of her Constitution, prohibiting 
the entry of free persons of color. ^ It seems scarcely credible, 
but is reported, that before the year was ended the Legislature of 
Massachusetts was endeavoring to find some way of not only pre- 
venting any further influx of such persons, but relief from such 
as were in that State. 

1 Ibid., July 18, 1821. * "Life and Times of William Lowndes," p. 312. 



CHAPTER X 

A CONSIDERATION OF THE TONE OF PUBLIC OPINION AND INTEREST 
IN INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE, NORTH AND SOUTH, IN 182I 

The proprietor of the City Gazette in the year 182 1 obtained 
the services of a very talented gentleman as editor, a scholar and 
something of a wit, capable of holding his own in any ordinary 
controversy, and indulging a little more in editorial comment 
than the spare amount of that time. In July of that year we 
find the following: "The Legislature of Massachusetts have 
lately been making some inquiries into the character and conduct 
of that portion of their population called persons of color. A 
committee was appointed to report upon the expediency of amend- 
ing the laws of the commonwealth concerning the admission into 
and residence in this State of negroes and mulattoes." Then 
follows what purports to be a portion of the report: "Your com- 
mittee do not think it necessary to make particular mention of 
the evils which will accompany this description of population. 
Those which are most apparent are : — 

" I. Increasing the number of paupers and convicts. 

" 2. Collecting in the large towns an indolent and disorderly and 
corrupt population. 

"3. Substituting themselves in many labors and occupations 
which in the end it would be more advantageous to have performed 
by the white and native population of the State. 

"Your committee in finishing this part of the report think it due 
to the subject to state that the good order and tranquillity of the 
towns has of late years been often and much disturbed by violent 

114 



PUBLIC OPINION AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE 115 

riots at that part of the town where persons of color collect in 
great numbers. Your committee are fully persuaded of the im- 
portance of this subject and of the great necessity of adopting 
such laws in this commonwealth as, without departing in the 
least degree from the respect for humanity and the just rights of 
all classes of men by which this commonwealth has been long and 
greatly distinguished, shall at the same time protect the State 
from the burden of an expensive and injurious population, etc." ^ 
"What kind of bill," inquires Editor Harby, "by which the State 
of Massachusetts is to be disburdened of this description of popu- 
lation, without infringement on the just rights of all classes, we 
confess our inability to see;" but he continues: "These remarks 
are made in a spirit of good humor; for since the admission of 
Missouri into the Union and the handsome conduct of her legis- 
lature, in accepting the condition, we fondly anticipate no dis- 
solution of our national alliance." 

The same year which saw this extraordinary report, so utterly 
inconsistent with the terms imposed upon Missouri, saw the re- 
spective attempts at nullification in Ohio and Virginia, not pro- 
ceeding as far as that dangerous one in Massachusetts in 181 1, 
but familiarizing the minds of all with the possibilities of such 
procedure. In the Ohio case the editor of the Gazette contents 
himself with an account, and that incident is chiefly interesting 
to us as illustrating the plausibility of Judge Nott's dissenting 
opinion in Bulow and Potter vs. The City Council in 1818. As 
stated by the City Gazette, the Ohio case was this: "The Federal 
Government (by power delegated we believe to the Directors) 
instituted a branch of the Bank of the United States in Ohio. The 
Legislature, fearing the institution injurious to the interests of the 
State Banks (or if you please the citizens), passed a law laying 
a tax of $100,000 on the Branch Bank — that is, an act by 

' City Gazette, July 27, 1821. 



Il6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE f | 

which they would exclude the operations of an institution 
created by the Federal Government. Accordingly, an officer 
of the State did walk into the Branch Bank and did forcibly 
take away from the vaults thereof the above named sum of $100,000 
and did lodge the same in the treasury of the State, where it remains 
to-day," ^ It is true that an appeal was made in this case to the 
Supreme Court ; but it was not immediately disposed of, and the 
manner of the proceeding on the part of the State authorities was 
certainly not one conducive to great respect for the Federal author- 
ity. If unaccompanied by overt act, in expression the Virginia 
case went farther. A bill was proposed by the Richmond Enquirer, 
threatening with very severe penalties ''any person who should 
enforce within the commonwealth any judgments of the Supreme 
Court or any other foreign tribunal which reviews a judgment 
of the courts of this commonwealth, or who shall enforce within 
this commonwealth any act or pretended act of the Legislature 
of the District of Columbia, contravening any of the statutes of 
this commonwealth." ^ 

This bill Editor Harby attacks fiercely, although he incidentally 
recognizes secession in the declaration that such an act would 
be ineffectual, unless Virginia resumed the powers, which, as a 
State, she had expressly granted to the Federal government; 
and he roundly rebukes the paper for its belittling reference to 
Congress in the following patriotic outburst: "The Richmond 
Enquirer impudently denominates the greatest government on 
God's earth, the government of the United States, the sacred 
deposit of the Will, and palladium of the liberties of the people 
of these States — it impudently denominates this Amphictyonic 
Council, this Mind of all the citizens, as the Legislature of the 
District of Columbia." 

From these extracts it is patent that public opinion in South 

* City Gazette, Aug. 14, 1821. ' Ihid., Nov. 28, 1821. 



PUBLIC OPINION AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE 117 

Carolina was not only for the Union and opposed to anything 
which could threaten it, but entertained a reverence for it beyond 
that expressed in Ohio and Virginia. The views of Mr. Harby 
are the views of Charles Pinckney in 1788, expressed in different 
language. Pinckney had asked "on what depends the enjoyment 
of these rare inestimable privileges?" And answering his own 
question had declared, "On the firmness, on the power of the 
union to protect and defend them." ^ And that was but another 
way of pronouncing the United States government "the palladium 
of the liberties of the people of these States." But passing from 
this to the contemplation of the condition of the free colored persons 
in South Carolina and the North, and comparing the evidences 
of their condition as indicated by the letter of the Brown Fellow- 
ship Society on the one hand,^ and the report of the Massachusetts 
committee of the Legislature on the other, it is indisputable that 
a higher and nobler type of colored man was being developed in 
South Carolina than in Massachusetts, unless we are willing to 
believe that this report of the committee of the Massachusetts 
Legislature was a libel upon her black and colored inhabitants 
in 1821. 

Despite the unfortunate weakness which, for material gain, 
broke down the restrictions against the introduction of slaves from 
other States and Territories to South Carolina, conditions in the 
State showed a steadily advancing civilization and humanitarian 
development calculated to stand comparison also with any in the 
Union. The necessity of internal improvements was thoroughly 
realized, if the execution was defective. The talented South 
Carolinian, Joel R. Poinsett, who had been mistakenly placed at 
the head of the Board, was about to give way to the more practical 
son of her adoption, Abraham Blanding, and in the line of state- 

^ State Gazette, June 9, 1788. 

' LeUer Book of Society, April 17, 181 7. In possession of J. H. HoUoway. 



Ii8 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

craft the former was to give a clearer illustration of his powers 
of mind and strength of character. But many suggestions were 
appearing, and Mills's Atlas, just completed, was a work for the 
State by one of her sons, helping greatly all projects of improvement; 
yet nothing which came to light in this year of 182 1 has the same 
interest as a short communication, signed "H," introducing the 
subject of a railway, to be operated by steam from Charleston to 
Augusta and Columbia/ Before touching upon this, however, 
some facts illustrative of the prevailing trend of public opinion, 
ethically, may be instructive. Charles Pinckney, before retiring 
from Congress, where he was succeeded by Joel R. Poinsett, had 
succeeded in passing a resolution "that a committee be appointed 
to consider the expediency of restoring to all the States the juris- 
diction of all the territory ceded by them for forts and arsenals, so 
far as respects the exercise of the State laws for the prevention and 
punishment of crime and recovering of debts." ^ This he stated 
was mainly to assist in the prevention of duels, illegal on South 
Carolina soil since 181 2, through Dr. Moser's act; but safely in- 
dulged in on Federal territory. 

Dr. Philip Moser was still in the Legislature and still a genuine 
reformer, never weary of well-doing. In his message to the Legis- 
lature, Governor Bennett had in the fall of 182 1 put before that 
body, very forcibly, some suggestions, among which we find this: 
"In the class of penal laws there are no provisions which present 
stronger and more urgent claims to the justice, humanity and 
prompt attention of the Legislature than those which prescribe 
the mode of trial and punishment for crimes committed by slaves 
and other negroes. The necessity which originally induced their 
adoption will be found in that feeble and immature state of society, 
which would justify a resort to the most summary and vigorous 
measures under the great rule of self-preservation. ... To 

* City Gazette, Nov. 22, 1821. ^ Ibid., Feb. 10, 1820. 



i 



i 



PUBLIC OPINION AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE 119 

give permanency to so gracious an interposition of your favor 
will require an earnest effort to anticipate the cause which origi- 
nally made necessary the present rigorous system, the most con- 
spicuous among others is the continuation of that inhuman traffic 
for slaves with our sister states, in which cupidity revels and human 
misery is made to swell the coffers of eager avarice; alike regard- 
less of the calls of patriotism and the mild precepts of Christian 
charity. It is reserved for the benevolent and prudential system 
of legislation which has ever characterized the State, to arrest the 
enormous evil and check a vice whose rapid growth threatens the 
peace of society," ^ That these sentiments were shared by his 
auditors is shown by the fact that at this session Dr. Moser suc- 
ceeded in effecting what he had been striving for before; for 
he gave notice that he would ask leave to bring in a bill making 
the punishment for the deliberate murder of any negro or free 
person of color, death without benefit of clergy. He brought it 
in and it passed.^ But in addition to this we are informed that 
so many applications to emancipate slaves were submitted at 
this session, that a general principle had to be adopted to save 
time.^ Between this and the next session occurred Denmark 
Vesey's insurrection, which caused to arise, however, some doubts 
as to the relaxing of laws for governing the great numbers of the 
inferior race then in the State; but even that was not sufficient to 
effect any great change in sentiment. In the year 1821, undis- 
turbed by political broils and contests, oblivious of the dangers 
which in the succeeding year the insurrection revealed as possi- 
bilities, the people of South Carolina addressed themselves to the 
consideration of schemes of betterment, material as well as moral, 
and this brings us back to the suggestion of "H." 
In his history of the first locomotive in America, Mr. Brown 

^ Ibid., Dec. 7, 1821. 'Ibid., Dec, 11, 1821 ; Courier, Dec. 27, 1821. 

' City Gazette, Dec. i, 1821. 



I20 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

makes the assertion: "It was not until 1820 that the first sug- 
gestion of using the locomotive (imperfect as it then was) in the 
place of horse power was advocated by one Thomas Gray, who 
devoted much of his time and money in publishing articles 
and pamphlets upon the subject," ^ Continuing, the author states 
that "in England, the Hatton Colliery in Durham was altered into 
a locomotive railway, and Mr. Stephenson appointed its chief 
engineer, the road being opened for the first time for locomotives, 
November 18, 1822." Passing to America, he states that the first 
railroad built in the United States was one commenced at Quincy, 
Massachusetts, in 1826; but that the first roads started, which 
concerned themselves with the problem of operation by means of 
steam locomotives, were the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company 
and the South Carolina Railroad, both begun in 1828.^ His interest- 
ing conclusion, after narrating the practical failure of the imported 
English locomotives on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's 
line, is that "the South Carolina Railroad was accordingly the first 
road in the world built expressly for locomotives and also the 
pioneer in having the first locomotive for actual service in America 
built for their use; also the first to order a locomotive built in their 
midst and by one of their own native mechanics and citizens." ' 
These facts, as important as they are to an exact knowledge of 
the industrial history of the United States, are not generally known 
and do not appear in McMaster's History, although Brown, by 
whom they are made, is cited as an authority. They are sum- 
marized, however, in Elson's " History of the United States." * From 
the suggestion of "H," however, it appears; that in 1821, five years 
prior to the commencement of the three-mile road at Quincy to be 
operated by horse power, evidently, it was suggested to construct 

' "History of the First Locomotive in America," p. 54. 

'Ibid., pp. 70-71. ^ Ibid., p. 151. 

* Henry William Elson, "History of the United States," Vol. 3, p. 94. 



PUBLIC OPINION AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE 121 

a railroad from Charleston to Augusta and Columbia, to be operated 
by the agency of steam; that there was a survey of the route in 
that year contemplated; and that the intelligent mechanics of 
Charleston (two of whom, E. L. Miller ^ and Thomas Dotterer, 
won for their city and State the great distinction awarded by Brown 
in his history of the locomotive) knew of and believed in the claims 
of their fellow-craftsman and citizen of the United States, Oliver 
Evans, whose assertion of the possibility of such operation of 
carriages by steam had been stated in the papers of Charleston 
at least five years prior. 

But to get down to the suggestion of 182 1. 

Just prior to the convening of the South Carolina Legislature 
an article appeared in the City Gazette, introducing to the notice 
of the public a publication set forth as a description of "The 
Patent Railway." The introduction was as follows: — 

"For the City Gazette: Mr. Editor: Having during an excursion to the 
Eastward seen a specimen of the patent railway, I was led to believe that the 
plan would be useful in this State. The inclement weather to which our 
roads are subject must defy all attempts to render them good during some 
portions of the year. The soil on which they are made and the materials 
adjacent to some parts renders them liable to constant injury. The follow- 
ing publication may serve to direct public attention to the subject. It was 
made in relation to a more northern climate and some of the inconveniences 
stated would not be felt here. The season for discussing the great subject of 

Internal Improvement has arrived and this may add to the materials. 

«' g " 2 

Under this communication appeared the plan headed as "The 
Patent Railway," from which it appeared that it was "a com- 
bination of iron and wood railway, which the patentee was 
allowed to test the merits of on the wharf of the Honorable William 
Gray, where about four hundred feet are laid down permanently." 
Then follows a description at some length of something like a 

* "History of the First Locomotive in America," p. 139. 
^ City Gazette, Nov. 22, 1821. 



122 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

trestle track, with estimates of cost of constructing same from 
Boston to Worcester, and a claim that the "plan is essentially differ- 
ent and much cheaper than any in Great Britain or this country "; 
but an explanation that "there are many things to be attended 
to in the erection of the railways and using the carriages, which 
cannot be particularly noticed in a circular ; at the same time any 
good mechanic can erect the whole and it is easily kept in repair 
from its entire simplicity. . . . This plan is so novel many per- 
sons think they see insurmountable difficulties, without under- 
standing all the details. ... A Fulton was ridiculed for his 
attempt to apply steam to boats, and those that pronounce that 
horses cannot walk on a plank must allow that steam can and has 
been used and considered as cheap as horses. ... In South 
Carolina, suppose a pair of railways was laid from Charleston to 
Augusta and a fork run to Columbia, in all 150 miles, cost $400,000, 
a load of cotton could be carried in five days, instead of thirty, 
by water. $2 per bale would be readily paid for carrying same, 
and proportionately for rice and tobacco, and $25 per ton for carry- 
ing goods up : there is sufficient transportation to make the work 
valuable," etc. 

Commenting on this, the editor only remarks that his knowl- 
edge of the subject is limited; but he invites attention, observing 
that the patentee, Mr. Williams, is at that date in Philadelphia, 
but may come to South Carolina during the winter. 

Of course it would be a violent assumption to assert that the 
writer, who brought this patent railway to the notice of the public 
of South Carolina, was Hayne; yet there are many plausible reasons 
for that determination. It was the custom in Charleston, in pub- 
lishing a communication, to assume a nom de plume, generally 
some of the well-known Latin worthies; but if not one of these, at 
least a distinctive word. Less often and on grave occasions the 
correspondent signed his own name. This last was almost inva- 



PUBLIC OPINION AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE 123 

riably the practice of Hayne, and on one of the few occasions in 
which he appears to have done otherwise in the year immediately 
following 1822, he signs a card of just about the same length, 
"H. " ^ The events which followed were calculated to distract his 
attention from such an enterprise for quite a while. The nomina- 
tion of Lowndes for the Presidency by the Legislature of South 
Carolina,^ the insurrection of Denmark Vesey, during which much 
responsibility was imposed upon Hayne; and his own nomination 
and election to the United States Senate, where for ten years he led 
the fight against progressive tariffs, until as Governor he held up 
the hand of Calhoun and assisted him to strike down the so-called 
American system by the Compromise forced from Clay. Yet 
during all this period his speeches are permeated with the ideas 
of the memorial of 1820, ever developing, until, flowering into 
a devotion almost religious, he abandons every ambition for the 
purpose of binding in the indissoluble bonds of interest and mutual 
intercourse the political Union he recognizes as threatened, and 
seals his patriotism with his death. Whether Stephen Elliott was 
entitled to the entire credit for the memorial, or whether Hayne 
was entitled to some share in spite of his crediting it to the chairman 
of the committee of which he was a member, it is more than likely 
that the labor of engrossing it was performed by some one other 
than the chairman ; and in furtherance of the view that to some extent 
a less accomplished scholar than ElHott took part in the composition, 
— even if only to bring the heads together in one whole, — the slight 
deficiency in words has been noted, the tendency to repeat a certain 
word, where one synonymous would help the style and by an other- 
wise rather striking coincidence we find in the short space occupied 
by this card the identical repetition in the apparent inability to 
substitute a word which might prevent the repetition of the word 
" render." In the memorial we read : " and the influence by which 

^ City Gazette, Nov. 13, 1822. * Ihid., Dec. 31, 1821. 



124 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

so Strong an interest . . . can exert over any government, should 
render us very cautious how we render that a claim, which at first 
may be regarded as a favor." In the communication to the City 
Gazette with regard to the patent railway we note : " The inclement 
weather to which our roads are subject must defy all attempts to 
render them good . . . and the materials adjacent to some parts 
renders them liable," etc. As another possible indication it is 
submitted that the Honorable William Gray in question was the 
great Boston merchant of that name who supported the embargo 
in spite of the injury done to his business; and that six years later, 
with both Senators Silsbee and Webster representing Massachusetts 
in the United States Senate, yet the committee of Boston merchants, 
who in that year protested against the tariff, sent their memorial 
to be presented by Senator Hayne, among the signers of which 
memorial was a member of the family and close relative of the Hon- 
orable William Gray. By whomsoever suggested, however, the card 
of " H " was not absolutely barren of results; for a bill was intro- 
duced in the Legislature "for a survey from Granby to Charleston 
on the route delineated by Robert Mills for a canal, the preparation 
of a list of the owners of the land through which same would pass, 
and an estimate of the expense of the work." ^ Inasmuch as the 
charter granted six years later was for a railroad or canal, or a 
railroad and canal, in "H," we may have the original projector of 
the Hamburg Railroad. 

• Courier, Dec. 12, 1821. 



CHAPTER XI 

LOWNDES NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY BY THE LEGISLATURE 

OF SOUTH CAROLINA 

Perhaps the''most interesting act of the Legislature of this year 
182 1 was the nomination of William Lowndes for the position of 
President of the United States. There were some doubts concern- 
ing the propriety or expediency of a nomination, so far in advance 
of the election for the office, which would not take place before the 
fall of 1824; but once it was decided by a vote of 58 to 54 to nomi- 
nate at that meeting,^ Lowndes was unanimously chosen. The 
reason given by the mover of the resolution proposing the name of 
Lowndes for his nomination was, that "if the principles of State 
sovereignty, pushed to their excess and of unrelenting economy, 
which had been associated perspectively (prospectively) with the 
administration of Mr. Crawford, were true, his selection would be 
jl a serious evil to the country." ^ Unfortunately it was not very 
long after this nomination that it became apparent that Mr. 
Lowndes's health was failing; but it was thought even if this was 
the fact, and it should preclude his candidacy, John C. Calhoun, 
then Secretary of War, represented practically the same ideas and 
would receive, with Lowndes's withdrawal, the unanimous sup- 
port of the State; for these two great sons of South Carolina had 
up to this time moved along the same lines, in support of a liberal 
interpretation of the powers of Federal government. 

Hayne's views as to this nomination happen to have been stated 
by him shortly after in a letter to Lowndes, in which he assumes 
this agreement, and the letter explains why he could not permit 

* City Gazette, Dec. 31, 1821. ' Ibid., Jan. 9, 1822. 

125 



126 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the assertion made later by his brother-in-law, H. L. Pinckney, 
that he was a supporter of Mr. Calhoun for the Presidency, to 
stand unchallenged during Mr, Lowndes's life. This letter is from 
Charleston, under date January 21, 1822, and after a preliminary 
request in behalf of a Colonel Waring, is devoted to the question of 
the nomination. He says : "While I have my pen in hand writing 
to you, I cannot refrain from adding a few lines on the subject of 
the Presidential Election. You know too well my feelings towards 
you to doubt the deep interest I must take in everything which 
concerns your welfare, and I am sure it is superfluous to add that 
no event could give me more sincere pleasure than to see you 
elevated to the station I believe you so well qualified to fill with 
honor, though I must doubt the policy of the proceedings at Colum- 
bia (and had I been acquainted with the design of holding such 
a meeting would have opposed it) ; yet circumstanced as we now are, 
I think the course you have resolved to pursue is one of which 
every candid and liberal man must approve — and in no possible 
event can censure attach to you, nor can you have anything to 
regret — Your friends, here, rest their hopes of final success in 
some measure on the collisions which must arise among the other 
candidates. We feel assured that the temperate unbiassed judg- 
ment of the well-informed men of the U. S. will be favorable to your 
claims, and this we think will probably be very soon displayed. 
Your friends will certainly not be disposed to press your claims 
should public opinion declare itself decidedly in favor of one or 
two of the candidates, but the position you have taken gives an 
opportunity to your friends of ascertaining the true state of the 
public mind. Time only is wanting to give us the information we 
desire, and this without any step on your part. It is certainly to be 
regretted that any opposition should arise between the claims of 
Mr. Calhoun and your own. The unanimous vote of South Caro- 
lina will certainly be given for either should but one be a candidate. 



LOWNDES NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY 127 

The sincere respect entertained for Mr. Calhoun's talents, virtues 
and services in every part of the State would make us more than 
satisfied with his success. But it is believed that your claims are 
not to be postponed to those of any other person. If it shall ap- 
pear in the course of events that you have no fair prospects of 
success, your friends, who are all of them Mr. Calhoun's friends, 
would certainly unite in his support. Taking into consideration 
the proceedings at Columbia, perhaps this will be the course least 
injurious to Mr. C. Should it finally appear that Mr. C. will not 
receive the support his sanguine friends anticipate, I presume he 
would feel no hesitation in throwing his weight into your scale. 
Time can only decide the course which ought to be pursued by 
Mr. C. and yourself. I have thus written to give you freely my 
impressions on this most interesting subject. I have been favored 
by our mutual friend. Major Hamilton, with a sight of your letters 
and therefore trust that the expression of my sentiments will not 
be unacceptable to you. ... I am, Dear Sir, with great respect 
and esteem," etc.^ From Mr. Lowndes's letter to James Hamilton, 
Jr., of December 29, 1821,^ the chivalrous attitude of the man ap- 
pears in all its belief in the greatness of a friend. It was written after 
consultation with Calhoun and is quite as much for Calhoun as for 
himself. In fact, one would infer from Hamilton's reply, January 9, 
1822,^ a little more so, and there seems to have been a rather prompt 
acceptance of Calhoun's oversanguine description of himself, 
as the nominee of Pennsylvania, which ex-Senator William Smith 
later ridiculed so mercilessly. Calhoun was a great statesman, 
a man of pure and high principles ; but he believed firmly in him- 
self, nor did his greatness ever exceed the estimate he entertained 
of it. His letter of a couple of months later to John Ewing Calhoun 
is not any other than natural, coming as it does from an ambitious 
and confident man, but is in contrast to that of his friend Lowndes, 

* Original in possession of William Lowndes, Esq. 

* "Life and Times of William Lowndes," p. 226. ' Ibid., p. 228. 



128 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

to whom it alludes: "The presidential election continues to be 
much spoken of, but does not yet produce much political excite- 
ment. My friends think my political prospect good, in fact better 
than any other who is spoken of. There is no doubt of Pennsyl- 
vania, which must go far to decide the contest. I do not think Mr. 
L. is much spoken of. He has few opponents, but still fewer 
ardent friends. My own opinion is that the contest will be between 
Adams, Crawford and myself." ^ But it must have been apparent 
by the spring of 1822 that the most prominent of all her sons in 
Congress could no longer serve the State of South Carolina, and 
probably in May Mr. Lowndes resigned his seat. That he was in 
the minds of some already marked for death, is indicated by the 
fact that the City Gazette, after naming six candidates, states the 
belief that in the end the contest will be confined to the three 
named in Mr. Calhoun's letter, to wit, Adams, Crawford and 
Calhoun.^ Three days later, however, it apologizes for the in- 
timation that Mr. Lowndes will withdraw. 

But Mr. Lowndes and Mr. Calhoun were not the only two South 
Carolinians of this date of national prommence. There was 
Langdon Cheves, who had been elevated to the Speakership of 
the United States House of Representatives in 1814, and later 
having as president "rescued the United States Bank from im- 
pending ruin in 1819," ^ and having set it on a firm financial 
foundation, was now about to retire from the presidency of that 
institution. He was mentioned in Kentucky in connection with 
the Presidency ; * while the possibility of his again representing 
South Carolina was a subject of comment in the State. 

Yet public interest in such matters in South Carolina was sus- 
pended for some months in the spring and summer of 1822, on 



* "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 202. ^ Ibid., Oct. 22, 1822. 

* City Gazette, Jan. 14, 1822, Jan. 16, 1822. * Courier, June 7, 1822. 



LOWNDES NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY 129 

account of a matter of closer concern and more absorbing interest, 
the threatened insurrection of which Denmark Vesey was the 
principal leader. In the measures taken to prevent an uprising 
of the negroes and safeguard the homes of the whites, Hayne was 
prominent on account of his position in the militia. Prior to this 
year, and probably in the early part of 1820, he had contracted 
his second marriage. His second wife was Miss Rebecca Motte 
Alston, a half-sister of that Governor Alston who had at such an 
early age recognized his ability. The lady was of about his own age, 
of more than ordinary strength of character and intelligence, so 
much so that it was a matter of jest in her family whether, in 
matrimony, she could possibly arrive at that mutual adjustment of 
tastes and opinions so necessary to happiness. She made him a 
devoted wife, and under his affectionate influence the quality with 
which she most impressed the various individuals his varied public 
duties threw into contact with her, was amiability. It seems a 
loss that none of the letters which passed between husband and wife 
should be permitted to see the light, for the tactful use of such 
does much to add to the charm of that delightful book, "The Life 
and Times of William Lowndes"; but the only scrap which is 
obtainable is in the shape of a few lines addressed to a young and 
near relative of his wife, to whom he sent some little gift upon her 
wedding day, preserved by the daughter of the recipient, and 
furnished with the statement that she had often heard her mother 
speak of the donor's charm of manner : — 

"Accept, sweet girl, from one who feels 
The purest joy which marriage yields, 
This little gift designed to say 
How welcome is your bridal day. 

" The golden leaf by pearls enshrined, 
Apt emblem of a heart refined. 
Whose sterling worth in graces dressed 
In M — A — stands confessed." 



CHAPTER XII 

DENMARK VESEY's INSURRECTION 

In the spring of 1822 Charleston and the surrounding coast 
country were greatly disturbed by apprehensions of a negro 
insurrection. According to the United States Census of 1820, 
the white population of Charleston had actually decreased; while 
the black and colored had increased. With a slight increase of 
population, the proportion of the inferior race were to the superior 
four-sevenths to three-sevenths. What exactly was the proportion 
in 1822 is problematical; but the importation of slaves from other 
States and Territories had grown to such proportions as to call for 
comment in the Governor's message, December, 182 1, and even so 
conservative an individual as General Thomas Pinckney realized 
the great injury to South Carolina, and what is more strikingly 
patriotic, the peculiar hardship on the white artisan class ; and that 
cheap negro labor was steadily undermining that class of Charles- 
ton's population which had ever been stridently Republican, 
which had elevated to power Charles Pinckney, John Geddes, 
Thomas Bennett, and Robert Y. Hayne, and had failed to support 
his own great brother because he was a Federalist. Taking into 
consideration the suburbs, he estimated that the proportion of 
whites to blacks was 14 to 22, and the numbers of the white 
artisans growing less. This, with great wisdom, he considered an 
injury, and set forth his reasons. But the danger to be appre- 
hended from the presence of this growing mass was to be even 
more forcibly illustrated by the attempt this year of one Denmark ^ 

* Denmark (or Telemaque Vesey), a free mulatto worth $8000 in property. 
City Gazette, Aug. 21, 1822. 

130 



DENMARK VESEY'S INSURRECTION 13 1 

Vesey to stir up an insurrection. Vesey was a free mulatto 
from the West Indies. His principal lieutenants were Peter 
Poyas, a trusted slave, well reared and occupying a respectable 
position, and Gullah Jack, an imported African. The insurrection 
was revealed by a slave named George, belonging to the Wilson 
family, who being a mechanic was allowed to work out, yielding \ 
a portion of his wages to his owner. A description of this man, 
and of the night on which the uprising was planned to take Tpldice,'"^ 
is here submitted by Mr. Hasell Wilson, for many years chief 
engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad and as late as 1900 con- 
nected with it, who has left an account based on his personal rec- 
ollection.^ 

"The slave George," he says, "was a heavily built dark mulatto, 
a blacksmith, who worked out, and according to the custom ac- 
counted to his mistress only for a portion of his wages. He 
could read and write, bore an excellent character with blacks and 
whites and was a class leader in the Methodist Church." ^ As 
Peter Poyas had thrown in his lot with the band, George was ap- 
proached also ; but to George the plans seemed horrible, and he 
exerted himself to defeat them. In counting on Peter, another 
slave, the conspirators were also misled. Pencil, a free person of 
color, also gave testimony against them. Of course the entire 
scheme was based on an incapacity to realize the true condition of 
affairs in South Carolina, and must have been absolutely abortive 
at the best; but this did not preclude the possibility and extreme 
probability of much distress and anguish and frightful excesses of 
rapine and bloodshed attending the attempt, which these three 
men prevented; for once warned, the community was safe. The 
action of the authorities was prompt ; and, as it was beginning to be 
natural, the main responsibility was devolved upon Hayne. On 
Sunday, June 16, at ten o'clock at night. Captain Cattle's Corps 

» Mss. in Charleston Library. ' Ibid. 



I 



132 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

of Hussars, Captain Miller's Light Infantry, Captain Martindale's 
Neck Rangers, the Charleston Riflemen and the City Guard were 
ordered to rendezvous for guard, the whole organized as a detach- 
ment, under command of Colonel R. Y. Hayne.^ To the women 
and children the night could have scarcely been a pleasant one, the 
very vagueness of the matter imparting a mysterious air of horror 
to the thought of insurrection and what it might purport, Mr. Wil- 
son in his account records the natural impressions of a child. 
"I can never forget," he writes, "the feeling of alarm and anxiety 
that pervaded the whole community, from the time the danger 
became known until all risk appeared to be over. On the night 
appointed for the consummation of the plot, no one, not even the 
children, ventured to retire, and the passing of the patrols on the 
streets and every slight noise excited attention. When morning 
dawned without any alarm having been given, there was a general 
feeling of relief; but the anxiety and suspense were not dissipated 
for some time." 

Two courts were formed for the trial of the conspirators. The 
first court organized early in July consisted of William Drayton, 
J. R. Pringle, Robert J. TurnbuU, N. Heyward, Henry Deas, 
Thomas Parker and Lionel Kennedy,^ and of one hundred and 
fifty or so accused, brought before it, seventy-one were found 
guilty, and of these, thirty-four condemned to death and thirty- 
seven to transportation beyond the limits of the State, among 
those condemned to death being Denmark Vesey, represented by 
George Warren Cross, Esq., as counsel, and also Peter Poyas 
and Gullah Jack, the three deemed the principal ringleaders. 
This court seems to have been subjected to some criticism and its 
protest brought a rejoinder from a distinguished judge. There 
were rumors that the court was disposed to resign; but it sat 
until July 31, when a new court, consisting of Joel R. Poinsett, 

^ Account published by City Corporation. * City Gazette, July 31, 1822. 



DENMARK VESEY'S INSURRECTION 133 

Robert Y. Hayne, Thomas Rhett Smith, Thomas Roper, John 
Gordon, Jacob Axson and Charles M. Furman was formed, the old 
one having been dissolved.^ The second court sat for nine days, 
sentenced one prisoner to death and seven to transportation and 
dismissed the remainder of the accused. Of those condemned, 
some were very denunciatory of the leaders, accusing them of hav- 
ing brought them to their unhappy pass; ^ but Denmark Vesey and 
Peter Poyas met their death with firmness, refusing to make any 
statement whatever. The execution of the thirty-five was desig- 
nated by the New York Daily Advertiser, "A Bloody Sacrifice,"^ 
which provoked the prompt retort, that exacdy the same number 
on a similar accusation and investigation had been executed in 
New York some years previous, and some of the accused burnt to 
death." To people who believed that by prompt and decisive 
measures a terrible danger had been averted, the comments of the 
New York paper seemed unreasonable; yet the reply was a 
citation of facts rather than indulgence in rhetoric, and when in 
opposition to the general criticism of the Northern press the 
Boston Recorder protested against this criticism and asserted its 
belief that, with scarcely any exception, the whole Northern 
population sympathized with the people of Charleston in their 
danger and deliverance, the publication of the article brought 
forth a response signed by "Union," in which the writer declared 
that intercourse between the sections was alone needed to increase 
the mutual esteem. 



» lUd. 

2 The confession of Jack Purcell: "If it had not been for the cunning of that 
old villain Vesey, I would not now be in my present position. ... He one day 
brought me a speech which he told me had been delivered by a Mr. King, on the 
subject of slavery . . . that Mr. King had declared he would continue to speak, 
write and publish pamphlets against slavery ... for that slavery was a great dis- 
grace to the country." City Gazette, Aug. 21, 1822. 

' City Gazette, Aug. 14, 1822. * ^^i^-^ Sept. 27, 1822. 



134 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

If we consider the effect upon the views of the people of South 
Carolina of this alarm, we will find that the Grand Jury of Charles- 
ton reiterated its presentment of years previous in almost the exact 
language against "the dangerous and growing evil of the frequent 
introduction of slaves from other States into this State." ^ While 
the temper of the Legislature was such that upon the introduction 
of a bill to prohibit the bringing of slaves into the State for sale, 
barter or exchange, it mustered behind it 52 votes, with only 61 
against it; ^ and if Governor Bennett had only plucked up a little 
more courage and resolution, he might have helped it through. 
But Governor Bennett was not the same man he was the previous 
session. In place of the fearless, trenchant paper in which he had 
attempted to call the attention of the lawmaking body to the 
danger of which the Charleston Grand Jury still firmly spoke, 
his pessimistic utterances were mournful and hopeless in the 
extreme. How much the animadversions of his fellow-citizens 
upon his clemency as Governor, how much the realization of the 
implication of his own house servant in the conspiracy had affected 
him, may not be known; but he seemed at the critical moment 
to have abandoned the fight. Paying a high tribute to the merci- 
fully inclined, but resolute, young Attorney-General and other 
officers, he confined all his suggestions to matters concerning the 
free colored persons of Charleston, with regard to whom he declared 
that their rapid increase had been the subject of serious reflection 
and great anxiety to him, and that he conceived this to be due to 
the laws of contiguous States, which thus disburdened themselves 
of that portion of their population upon South Carolina, and, 
oblivious of the declaration, published by apparently trustworthy 
investigators, that in the decade from 181 2 the blacks had in- 
creased in South Carolina in the proportion of three to one white, 
and must be bringing in, with such increase, a perfect flood of vice 

* City Gazette, Oct. 15, 1822. * Courier, Dec. 25, 1822. 



DENMARK VESEY'S INSURRECTION 



135 



and ignorance, he throws up the sponge with the declaration: 
"Slavery abstractly considered would perhaps lead every mind to 
the same conclusion; but the period has long since passed by, 
when a correction might have been applied. The treasures of 
learning, the gifts of ingenuity and the stores of experience have 
been exhausted in the fruitless search for a practical remedy. 
The institution is established — the evil is entailed and we can 
now do no more than steadily to pursue that course indicated by 
stern necessity and not less imperious policy." ^ This was a most 
unfortunate tone for the Governor to assume, as the subsequent 
vote, above related, disclosed. 

A study of this vote reveals some interesting facts. The one 
South Carolinian who had voted for the Baldwin bill in 1820, and 
who had failed to return to Congress, voted against this bill in the 
South Carolina Legislature for the prohibition of " the introduc- 
tion of slaves into the State for sale, barter or exchange"; but 
what is surprising, so wise a judge as John Belton O'Neall later 
proved himself to be, was one of those who were incapable of see- 
ing the injury this great negro population was inevitably working 
for the State.^ But that some were wise enough to see it. General 
Thomas Pinckney's paper shows; while the vote of the bulk, if 
not of the entire Charleston delegation,^ indicated the effect of 
his opinion and that of the Grand Jury of the District. To under- 
stand thoroughly this negro question, it is necessary to divest our 
minds of the ideas which have become prevalent with the mere 
passing out of recollection of historical facts and the absolutely 
unreliable assumptions of many writers, who have judged the past 
by the opinions of their own day. 

The impression has been produced that the attitude of the 
Northern majority in Congress in 1819, on the Missouri bill, was 
one defensive of the negro, and commiserative of the slave. Doubt- 

^ Ibid., Dec. 11, 1822. Ubid., Dec. 25, 1822. * Ibid. 



136 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

less it was, to some extent; but to continue to believe that it was 
entirely so, is to fly in the face of facts. The extraordinary report 
of the Massachusetts legislative committee on the free colored 
persons of that commonwealth has been before mentioned. That 
report was made in 182 1 ; but it must not be taken as representing 
simply the objection of one State to this class, for, at the end of 
1822, mention is made of the fact that the State of Ohio had just 
enacted a law that no black or mulatto person should be per- 
mitted to give testimony in any case where a white person was 
concerned,^ and yet we remember that the entire court in South 
Carolina in 1807, in the case of State vs. McDowell, decided the 
contrary ; so that it is apparent that it was not, entirely, objection 
to the slave owner moving in with his slave and extending the ter- 
ritory, where the institution should be ; but it was also a positive, 
definite, admitted objection to the negro's presence, whether bond 
or free, that influenced the representatives from the Northern and 
Western States, just as it influences them to-day to keep the negroes 
confined to the South. 

* Courier, Nov. 27, 1823. 



.♦ 



CHAPTER XIII 

hayne's election to the united states senate 

For their faithful services the two slaves George and Peter were 
emancipated at a cost of $1000 each, paid to their owners, and in 
addition it was provided that both should receive $50 per annum 
for life. Pencil, the free colored man, received $1000 ^ and the 
remission of all taxation for life. Gell, whose confession, as it 
proceeded, disclosed the fact that he was one of the most vicious, 
was, nevertheless, in good faith, pardoned, and thus the insur- 
rection passed out of mind, and the contest for the seat in the 
United States Senate held by Senator William Smith absorbed 
public attention in South Carolina. 

This remarkable man was then, in all probability, in his fifty- 
ninth year. Born in North Carolina, he had moved to South 
Carolina and settled in York District in his youth. He was edu- 
cated in part by Mr. Alexander, a Presbyterian minister residing 
at a place in South Carolina called then Bullock's Creek, and 
Andrew Jackson and William H, Crawford were both said to 
have been his schoolmates.^ In early life, a hard drinker, the 
patient devotion of. his wife induced him to abandon the habit 
altogether, and he prospered, from that time, until his death. A 
member of the Legislature and president of the State Senate in 
1806, he was in 1808 raised to the bench and eight years later 
elected to the United States Senate, where he had succeeded John 
Taylor, elected in 1810, when old General Sumter had resigned. 

1 City Gazette, Dec. 25, 1822. ^ O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. i, p. 106. 

137 



138 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Senator Smith was not in accord with the views and policies 
of Lowndes and Calhoun; but he was a man of great ability and 
force of character, a fair, fierce, fearless fighter, who knew not what 
the word " compromise " meant, and a firm believer in the strife of 
factions, by which he thought the people's rights were best pre- 
served. Being, like Sumter, an extreme State Rights partisan, he 
inclined to Crawford, and doubtless shared to some extent or 
sympathized with that "temper exhibited by so many members 
of the House of Representatives, to prostrate the whole of our 
establishments,"^ which Calhoun had a year or so previously 
alluded to in a letter to Poinsett, urging him to be promptly in his 
seat, accordingly. In this year, 1822, Calhoun threw his influence 
decisively against Smith and for Hayne, and doubtless secured the 
latter's election by the handsome vote he received. Whether 
Hayne could have been elected without Calhoun's assistance is 
as much a question as whether, with any other candidate, Smith 
could have been beaten. Had Langdon Cheves been a resident of 
South Carolina at the time, he possibly could have successfully 
opposed Smith ; but he had been a non-resident for three years and 
more. 

Under date of July i, 1822, Calhoun writes to John Ewing 
Calhoun, urging him not to decline an election to the Legislature, 
pressing on him the importance of attending and declaring that 
"it will take all the good sense and moderation which can be 
brought forward to prevent the State from being distracted." 
Continuing, he writes: "I am glad to see a disposition to leave 
Smith at home. I do not think he fairly represents the State. He 
is narrow minded, and, I believe, wedded to the Georgia politicians. 
If reelected, I doubt not that he will come out openly, which would 
do much mischief. Hayne is the man that ought to be elected. 
He has talents and eloquence, and will honor the State. It would 

' "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 190. 



HAYNE'S ELECTION TO THE SENATE 139 

be imprudent, however, to utter these sentiments as comino; from 



me." ' 



If the Presidential succession had not aroused much political 
excitement in the spring, by the fall it was bubbling, and the ad- 
herents of the various candidates were commencing to pass those 
comments on rivals of their favorites in which acerbity usurps the 
place of wit. To an unfortunate inquiry by a Crawford paper 
with regard to what kind of an administration "Mr. Calhoun, if 
elected (of which there is little danger), would give, whether 
Federal, Republican or mongrel?" ^ the City Gazette tartly re- 
plies, with an allusion to Secretary Crawford's proposal for mis- 
cegenation between whites and Indians, and refers its contemporary 
to the Indian squaws as authority on mongrelization. Up to this 
time Crawford appeared to be the strongest of the numerous 
candidates, seven or eight of whom were before the public, and 
upon South Carolina's attitude concerning the Presidency, the 
senatorial struggle, to some extent, turned. "The temper exhib- 
ited by so many of the members of the House of Representatives 
to prostrate the whole of our establishments," to which Calhoun 
alluded, was evidently the Crawford programme. Early in No- 
vember the two candidates for the Senate must have been named, 
and soon after, a writer of great ability, H. L. Pinckney, under the 
name of "Republican," deftly knits Hayne's candidacy to the 
State's opposition to Crawford's Presidential aspirations. He fore- 
sees even then the necessity which will arise for the interposition 
of Congress in 1824 with regard to the election, although he makes 
a slip in asserting "that the person who will be chosen to the 
Senate will have a vote." ^ Passing on to a review of the Presi- 
dential candidates, he observes: "Of these Jackson, Calhoun and 
Lowndes are indebted to Carolina for their existence . . . that 
the military career of Jackson is beyond any parallel our country 

* Ibid., p. 204. * City Gazette, Oct. 19, 1822. ' Ibid., Nov. 12, 1822. 



I40 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

can offer; that the profound mind, unwearied industry and con- 
ciliatory temper of Mr. Lowndes are felt and acknowledged by 
all; while the ardent and unbending genius, lofty oratory, com- 
prehensive vision, practical wisdom and firm nerve of Mr. Calhoun 
place him upon ground eminently conspicuous, even among these 
so eminently high themselves." But for Crawford, the writer has 
no praise whatsoever, and questions his claim to any, promising 
the pubHc that he intends to subject it to a rigid investigation. 
An intimation that Hayne is favorable to Calhoun, together with 
the mistake before alluded to, brings a card from Hayne, beyond 
doubt, although such is only signed "H." ^ Lowndes had died at 
sea, but the fact was not yet known, although it must have been 
very gravely doubted whether he would ever survive the election, 
still two years distant. The card agrees in general with the writer 
"Republican " as to the qualities and pretensions of the Presiden- 
tial candidates, but gives it as his opinion that the senator to be 
elected will not have any vote in the Presidential election by Con- 
gress, the House of Representatives being alone authorized by the 
Constitution to make the choice. The writer states, however, 
that he does not wish to be understood as expressing any opinion 
for or against either of the senatorial candidates, much less any 
decided opinion upon the general question of the Presidential 
election. Two days later, in the columns of the Courier (the 
Federal paper), appears: "To the members of the Legislature: 
In our national assembly, Carolina has always been well repre- 
sented. She has commanded the services of the most enlightened 
statesmen in our country, and she claims the proud and enviable 
distinction of ranking among her sons a Lowndes, a Cheves and a 
Calhoun. It was at a most critical period in our affairs that 
the abilities of such men were called into requisition, and it remains 
to be determined whether, under existing circumstances requiring 

' City Gazette, Nov. 13, 1822. 






HAYNE'S ELECTION TO THE SENATE 141 

corresponding talents, she will continue to sustain that elevated 
rank in the Union to which they have exalted her. That period 
has arrived — a narrow-minded policy under the assumed character 
of economy will be endeavored to be fastened on the nation. It is 
to be based on the ruins of the present administration; and to 
advance the views of some few artful and intriguing men, a radical 
change is to be effected. Under this view of things it becomes 
necessary that the friends of the present administration be on the 
alert to prevent schemes so hostile to the welfare and prosperity 
of the Union. This is to be done by selecting as our representatives 
in Congress indi\'iduals whose sentiments are known to be favor- 
able to that enlarged and liberal view of things which it is the 
policy of our government to pursue. The happy period, it was 
believed, had arrived when party spirit and political animosity 
were alike merged in the public good; but it would seem to be 
otherwise, and it remains to be decided whether the system pursued 
by the present administration shall receive the support of the 
Union or not. To the State the inquiry is important; and to 
those through whom the expression of her sentiments is made it 
is proposed to submit candidly and dispassionately the claims to 
their support of one of the candidates for a seat in Congress. It 
is not intended to detract in the smallest degree from the merits 
of the present incumbent, his services are properly appreciated, 
and, should the choice of the Legislature fall upon his opponent. 
Colonel Hayne, he will at least be solaced by the reflection that it 
could not have fallen upon a better man." ^ "It is not the least 
of Colonel Hayne's merits," declares another correspondent 
in the same paper, " that he is a practical man and to an uncommon 
share of good sense unites talents of the first order. At an early 
period in life he commenced his professional career and, tho but 
a youth and in the enjoyment of few or no advantages of education, 

' Courier, Nov. 15, 1822. 



142 



I 

ROBERT Y. HAYNE | 



soon rose to such an eminence as to astonish his superiors in attain- 
ments, and at once displayed the strength of his mind and the vast 
powers of his understanding. Nothing seemed beyond the grasp 
of his intellect. ... At an age when the faculties of most men 
are just ripening into maturity, he presided in our representative 
chamber and with a firmness and manliness comportable with 
the dignity of his situation, which gave at once a character to 
the station." ^ Meanwhile "Constituent" and "Missouri" in the 
Gazette were battling rather ineffectually for Senator Smith, en- 
deavoring to separate the senatorial from the Presidential canvass; 
but that brilliant controversialist, Pinckney, realized the advantage 
he had in uniting them, and just prior to the convening of the 
Legislature he discharged a broadside at Smith. "Mr. Smith," 
he declares, "is an avowed supporter of Mr. Crawford, Mr. Hayne 
decidedly friendly to the cause of Mr. Calhoun." Then taking up 
for consideration the claims advanced for the Senator in the Mis- 
souri debate, he turns them with great skill to his purpose. "We 
do not dispute," says he, "the honesty and integrity of Mr. Smith 
nor the zeal and firmness of his conduct ; but what was the character 
of Mr. Smith's speech? Did it soften prejudice? Did it gain 
friends? Did it restrain the animosity of the violent or induce 
the undecided to advocate our cause? On the contrary, was it 
not the very opposite in tone and temper to what true policy re- 
quired? Was it not harsh, overbearing and vindictive? Was it 
not filled with invective and retort ? Did it not confirm our oppo- 
nents in their opposition and exasperate the pride even of those 
whose moderation inclined them to join us ? Did it not really and 
truly injure the cause which it was delivered to support? Had 
all the speeches on the Missouri question taken the tone and 
character of Mr. Smith's, what would have been the consequence? 
Would Missouri have been admitted on any terms ? Would not the 

' Courier, Nov. i8, 1822. 



HAYNE'S ELECTION TO THE SENATE 143 

halls of Congress have been literally converted into a great arena of 
political gladiators and the fabric of our Union shaken to its centre ? 
It most unquestionably would. Opposition would have been con- 
firmed, pride exasperated, sectional jealousy inflamed, personal 
dignity mortified, every bad feeling and hostile principle aroused 
and our opponents, rather than yield under the circumstances, we 
have supposed, would have thrown the brand upon the funeral 
pile of our empire. ... To the able arguments and conciliatory 
conduct of Mr. Clay and Mr. Lowndes we owe the fortunate result. 
. . . But even admitting his speech to be correct, how is his vote 
to be accounted for? He voted against the admission. Rather 
than yield to the only measure by which the Union could be main- 
tained, he would risk the horrors and miseries of separation. It 
is not necessary to enlarge upon this topic. Our Confederacy is 
founded upon compromise, and in a great empire like ours, where 
there are so many sectional jealousies to be appeased and con- 
flicting interests to be reconciled, he can never be regarded as a 
safe politician who will oppose his own personal feelings and 
private opinions to the great interests and essential salvation of his 
country. But give Mr. Smith full credit for his conduct. Colonel 
Hayne would have acted much more in accordance with the view 
and feeling of our State. . . . Mr. Smith is cold, phlegmatic and 
uninteresting. His only attraction consists in sarcasm, which, 
while it excites attention, inflames animosity. How clearly the 
reverse of all this is true with regard to Colonel Hayne, none need 
be informed who have ever had the pleasure to witness his conduct 
in the Legislature or hear his speeches at the bar." ^ ''Constitu- 
ent" and "Missouri" made a feeble effort to stem this torrent of 
rhetoric, with the declaration that Jefferson was no speaker; but 
the Legislature by a vote of 91 to 74 elected Robert Y. Hayne, in 
place of William Smith, senator.^ To the supporters of Mr. Craw- 

^ City Gazette, Nov. 23, 1822. * Courier, Dec. 5, 1822. 



144 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

ford this looked ominous; it was characterized as the control of 
the State by Calhoun, and the prophecy was made that he would 
withdraw and throw the vote of the State for Adams or Clay. 
If it had been anticipated that this would be contradicted, those 
making it were disappointed, for the paper most friendly to Cal- 
houn, the City Gazette, in a series of articles, defended such a 
course, should it become necessary, asserting that had Senator 
Smith openly and unreservedly advocated the election of Mr. 
Crawford, he would not have received twenty votes, and that 
"neither Colonel Hayne nor any other man coisld have defeated 
Judge Smith but for the imputation, the taint, the contact of 
Radical principles to which the Judge in some fatal moment had 
opened his bosom." In the course of the same article in admitting 
a preference for Clay over Crawford, the editor paid a beautiful 
tribute to Lowndes, although probably as yet ignorant of his 
death. "Clay," he said, "had joined his eloquence and his in- 
fluence to the powerful mind of William Lowndes (which, like the 
Pacific, knows no storms) and succeeded in calming public feeling 
on the great Missouri question." ^ A little later still, when the 
intelligence of Lowndes's death could have reached America, a 
touchingly spontaneous tribute appeared to the dead statesman 
in the letter of a Washington correspondent, "At every step we 
feel the loss of the comprehensive mind, the great experience and 
amiable temper of William Lowndes." ^ In the following year 
one of two new steamboats, built in the space of six months in 
Charleston, bearing "evidence of the degree of perfection to which 
the useful arts had arrived in that city," as the City Gazette expressed 
it,^ made her trial trip under his name. But even with the death 
of Lowndes the Presidential canvass of Mr, Calhoun did not 
seem to be making much progress. Indeed, the Richmond En- 
quirer, under date of Oct. 3, 1823, declared that Tennessee would 

* City Gazette, Dec. 24, 1822. ^ Ibid., Dec. 30, 1822. 

^ Ibid., Nov. 5, 1823. 



HAYNE'S ELECTION TO THE SENATE 



145 



elect Jackson by acclamation, and that she "ranked Pennsylvania 
and South Carolina, his native State, under his banner," with how 
many others it was not known. ^ In the session of 1823, however, 
the friends of Calhoun exerted themselves, and at a caucus of the 
South Carolina Legislature, H. L. Pinckney moved his indorse- 
ment for the Presidency, which, it was claimed, was carried by a 
vote of all but seven or eight.^ A little later, however, a writer 
signing himself "Sumpter, " while admitting that the majority of 
the caucus was for Calhoun, says that it was more noisy than 
overwhelming, that the actual vote was not taken by count, but by 
acclamation, and in his opinion fifteen or twenty voted against the 
nomination.^ Some other dissatisfied individuals asserted that if 
left to the people of the State, Jackson would have been preferred, 
all of which simply indicated feeling against Calhoun to a limited 
extent, and failed to affect the fact that in the constitutional man- 
ner and form the State had declared him to be her choice. 

Two letters from Hayne about this period throw some light 
upon contemporaneous events; but a still earlier letter to Calhoun 
had shown with what earnestness Hayne threw himself into 
anything he undertook. In March, 1823, he had written the 
Secretary of War in behalf of the petition of poor old Mr. George 
Petrie, " a lieutenant in the army during the war of the Revolution," 
to be restored to the pension list. He argues the case for the old 
man, as if millions were involved, going over the ground with a 
thoroughness that leaves nothing unsaid and arms every active 
sympathy for his cause, closing with a personal appeal at the end 
of a lengthy epistle, and literally pouring his whole soul into the 
plea, for the old broken-down soldier. It was a little matter to the 
great world, but everything to you, old Petrie, "for want of such 
a friend to stand between captivity and thee." 

' Richmond Enquirer, Oct. 3 ; City Gazette, Oct. 9, 1823, 
' City Gazette, Dec. 2, 1823. ^ Ibid., Jan. 3, 1824. 

L 



146 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

The first of the two letters to Mr. Cheves is from Baltimore, dated 
November 20, 1823, and after some personal matters he writes: 
" I had the pleasure to-day to hear Mr. Wirt conclude the argument 
before the Circuit Court of the U. S. on the defence set up by the 
securities of McCullough against the demand of the Bank of the 
U. S. You perhaps know that the defence is that the Bank were 
forced to disclose all that they knew of the character, conduct and 
solvency of McCullough, and this defence has been supported, 
it is said, by a learning and ingenuity seldom equalled. Mr. Wirt, 
however, in one of the most admirable arguments I have ever heard, 
appeared to me to make the matter too clear to admit of any 
rational doubts — he did not leave his adversaries an inch of ground 
to stand on. The court intimated their opinion to be decidedly 
with him, but I do not know whether the case is at the present stage 
to be submitted to the jury, or an appeal is to be taken on the 
points of law. In any event, I think the Bank must be very safe, 
and such is the general opinion." ^ 

The second letter is from Washington eight days later, and after 
commenting on the coincidence of the two being at Baltimore at 
the same time without knowing it, he alludes to politics: "The 
Members are flocking in very rapidly & by Monday I expect both 
houses will be full. The election for Speaker will excite great in- 
terest. Mr. Clay, should he be a candidate, will certainly succeed, 
but it is positively asserted that his health will not permit him to 
ofiFer. If so, the contest will be between Mr. Taylor and Mr. Bar- 
bour, & I think there is very little doubt of the success of the 
former by a handsome majority. The late Speaker is accused of 
devotion to Mr. Crawford & a nomination of all the Committees 
with a view to embarrass the government. It is certain that his 
appointments were very unfortunate, if not unjust. It appears 
that friends of Jackson & Adams have taken their stand against 

* Original in possession of Langdon Cheves, Esq. 



HAYNE'S ELECTION TO THE SENATE 147 

a Caucus — Clay's friends, it is said, will do the same. If so, Mr. 
Calhoun's friends will not find it necessary to choose — since they 
cannot of course unite in Caucus with the exclusive friends of Mr. 
Crawford. For my own part I have always considered the practice 
so objectionable in principle that I shall rejoice to see it put down 
everywhere — I am informed that the Treasury is rich — a balance 
in hand of perhaps nine millions — It seems that our finances will 
flourish in the hands of the Secretary in spite of all his wishes to de- 
press them." ^ Which conclusion we must admit it takes some 
prejudice against Crawford to incline one to so readily; but it un- 
doubtedly confirms the view which has been maintained, that 
there was up to this time no such thing as sectionalism in the State 
of South Carolina; for the leader of the Northerners in the Mis- 
souri debate was preferred to a Southern Crawford adherent, 
apparently because it was thought the policies of Crawford might 
endanger the Union. 

Clay's defeat of Barbour was overwhelming, 139 to 42,^ and 
he immediately pressed upon Congress the first of those succeed- 
ing tariff bills which, in four years, with their ever increasing 
pillage, effectually weaned the South of its patriotic impulses. 
1 Ibid. * Ciiy Gazette, Dec. 9, 1823. 



\ 



1 




WILLIAM SMITH. 







BOOK II 

THE APPEAL TO REASON 
CHAPTER I 

hayne's entrance ento the united states senate, his 
portrait by benton. his influence from the outset 

Hayne had just attained his thirty-second year upon his en- 
trance into the United States Senate, of which his colleague, Senator 
Gaillard, had been elected the President over Senator Barbour; 
the two Barbour brothers being defeated, each in the house he 
was a member of; and the fact that they both should have aspired 
to the distinction of presiding over the deliberations of the body 
each was accredited to, in the same year, certainly indicates no 
lack of self-esteem. By Senator Gaillard, Hayne was placed on 
the committee of Accounts and on the committee of the Navy.^ 
Senator Benton, whose first term began at the same time, has left 
a description of Hayne more in accord with the painting by Morse, 
possibly executed two or three years earlier, than with the drawing 
of Longacre, made some six or seven years later, by which he has 
been generally represented. 

"Nature had lavished upon him," says Benton, "all the gifts 
which lead to eminence in public, and to happiness in private life. 
Beginning with the person and manners, — minor advantages, but 
never to be overlooked when possessed, — he was entirely fortunate 
in the accessorial advantages. His person was of the middle size, 

* City Gazette, Dec. i8, 1823. 
149 



150 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

slightly above it in height, well proportioned, flexible and graceful. 
His face was fine — the features manly, well formed, expressive, 
bordering on the handsome; a countenance ordinarily thoughtful 
and serious, but readily lighting up, when accosted, with an ex- 
pression of kindness, intelligence, cheerfulness and an inviting 
amiability. His face was then the reflex of his head and his heart 
and ready for the artist who could seize the moment to paint to 
the life. His manners were easy, cordial, unaffected, affable, and 
his address so winning that the fascinated stranger was taken cap- 
tive at the first salutation. These personal qualities were backed 
by those of the mind — all solid, brilliant, practical and utilitarian 
and always employed on useful objects, pursued from high motives 
and by fair and open means. His judgment was good and he 
exercised it in the serious consideration of whatever business he 
was engaged upon, with an honest desire to do what was right, 
and a laudable ambition to achieve an honorable fame. He had 
a copious and ready elocution flowing at will in a strong and steady 
current and rich in the material which constitutes argument. His 
talents were various and shown in different walks of life not often 
united : eminent as a lawyer, distinguished as a senator : a writer 
as well as a speaker: and good at the council table. All these 
advantages were enforced by exemplary morals, and improved 
by habits of study, moderation, temperance, self-control and addic- 
tion to business. There was nothing holiday or empty about 
him — no lying in to be delivered of a speech of phrases. Practical 
was the turn of his mind, industry an attribute of his nature; labor 
an inherent impulsion and a habit; and during his ten years of 
senatorial service his name was incessantly connected with the 
business of the Senate. He was ready for all work — speaking, 
writing, consulting — in the committee room as well as in the 
chamber; drawing bills and reports in private as well as shining 
in the public debate, and ready for the social intercourse of the 



HAYNE'S ENTRANCE INTO THE SENATE 1 51 

evening when the labors of the day were over. A desire to do 
service to the country, and to earn just fame for himself by working 
at useful objects, brought all these high qualities into constant, 
active and brilliant requisition. To do good by fair means was the 
labor of his senatorial life; and I can truly say that in the ten years 
I of close association with him, I never saw him actuated by a sin- 
ister motive, a selfish calculation or an unbecoming aspiration. . . • 
Of all the young generation of statesmen coming on I considered 
him the safest, the most like William Lowndes and the best en- 
titled to a future eminent lead." ^ Such was Hayne's portrait 
at the hands of a friend; but such also was the estimate of the 
press, in 1839, on the occasion of his death. 

He had scarcely entered upon the discharge of his duties before 
he gave evidence of that ability to discern difficulties before their 
arrival which he had displayed in the South Carolina Legislature 
five years previous, in his opposition to the bill, repealing the pro- 
hibition of the importation of negroes from other States and Ter- 
ritories, without special permission of that body. On December 
the nth he gave notice that on the following Monday he would 
ask leave to introduce a resolution, proposing to the Legislatures 
of the several States an amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States preventing the election of the President and Vice- 
President from devolving in any event on the House of Representa- 
tives ^ and on that date he briefly addressed the body in support 
of his suggestion, which seemed to precipitate discussion, but 
does not seem to have resulted in a vote. In the latter part of 
January he introduced a resolution that "the committee on Naval 
Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing 
a navy yard at Charleston, South Carolina, for the building and 
repairing of sloops of war and other vessels of an inferior class ; 

» Benton, "Thirty Years' View," Vol. 2, p. 186. 

* City Gazette, Dec. 20, 1823. ' Ibid., Jan. 21, 1824. 



>) 3 






152 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

which was read and agreed to. Being a member of the committee 
on Naval Affairs, he deemed it his duty to support that commit- 
tee's report, accomplishing the task with most engaging modesty, 
declaring that, after the introductory speech of Mr. Barbour, he 
could not expect to partake largely in the honor of victory; but 
as a member who had advocated it in committee and cordially 
approved of its recommendations, he could not fail to feel his share 
of the mortification from a defeat. In its behalf, accordingly, 
he good-naturedly rallied Mr. Chandler of Maine, who, he said, 
"had endeavored to give our little fleet a shot between wind and 
water" and "had attacked the recommendations with satire, in 
skilful hands sometimes a better weapon than argument." Then 
turning to the arguments against spending the money in the Treas- 
ury, declared it his opinion that " if wisely spent, it was better dis- 
posed of than if hoarded in the Treasury; for if it was not to be used 
for the public benefit, it had much better be in the pockets of the 
people." ^ Throughout the session, although the majority were 
opposed to his views on the most important subject which came 
before it, viz., the increase of duties in behalf of special interests, 
in spite of the fact that in refusing to attend the Republican caucus, 
justified by him openly over his signature (he had in the opinion 
of some of the members of his own party exposed the country to a 
risk which he was informed his youth prevented him from appre- 
ciating), his influence was nevertheless marked. His speech in 
justification of his action in not attending the caucus was strong, 
and the argument that members of Congress, in Congress, using 
its hall, etc., could not divest themselves of their official position 
and claim that they were acting in a private capacity any more 
than could the President, were he to name his successor, not easily 
met. Again, the form in which the resolutions, concerning Lafay- 
ette, came from the House, not seeming to him appropriate, he 

' Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 7, 1821-1824. 



HAYNE'S ENTRANCE INTO THE SENATE 153 

moved their reference to a select committee, and although opposed 
by such a veteran as King of New York, it was after debate so 
ordered, and he was made the chairman of such select committee. 
On the bill to abolish imprisonment for debt, he first carried through 
an amendment upon an amendment by Van Buren, and then, 
speaking at considerable length, in opposition to the cumbrous 
principles of the bill, in answer to the arguments of Senators John- 
son of Kentucky and Barbour of Virginia, moved in conclusion 
the commitment of the bill to the committee on Judiciary, with 
instructions "to inquire into the expediency of providing by law 
for the release of all persons who may be arrested for debt by 
virtue of any process issued from the State courts or courts of the 
United States, when such persons shall render on oath a schedule 
of all their property and execute an assignment thereof for the 
benefit of their creditors ; and that the committee do further inquire 
how far it may be expedient to provide by law for the release of 
such debtors from further liability, making at the same time suitable 
provision for the prevention and punishment of fraud and con- 
cealment," which motion, in spite of the opposition of Taylor 
of Virginia, and Holmes of Maine, who declared it was, in effect, 
the establishment, or looking to the establishment, of a system of 
bankruptcy, with but slight amendment, was carried by a vote 
of 18 to 17.^ In opposition to Van Buren, on the other hand, his 
view that the members of the Supreme Court should continue to 
sit on circuit prevailed, although in that case he was not the original 
opposer to the bill of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee; 
yet his reason is of interest, i.e. that the members of the highest 
court in the land should be brought into contact with all sections of 
the country. 

But it was upon the tariff that he most distinctly made himself felt, 
and placed himself in the position of leadership, which he held with- 

* City Gazette, Feb. 3, 1824. ^ Ibid., April 14, 1824. 



154 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



I 



out question among its friends and opponents for the eight years he 
continued to be a member of that august body — eight years in which 
he pressed with splendid but unavailing eloquence that patriotic ap- 
peal to reason, which fell on such deaf ears. Pressed it, with even | 
greater urgency, as he felt the ties which had bound the Union to- r 
gether in such close sympathy melting in the rising flame of sectional 
heat. Pressed it in his last supreme effort upon the great father 
of the American system, only to be answered with a grandiloquent 
threat, just prior to the passage of the ordinance of nullification by 
South Carolina. Pressed it, and departed from the Senate, at the 
call of his State, only to realize that the great Clay, who could not 
yield to an argument which involved the appeal to reason, did 
promptly yield to one embracing an appeal to force. 

In the House of Representatives, in that year of 1824, Clay and 
Webster had striven for the mastery over the tariff, and Clay had 
won ; for by a vote of 105 to 102 the bill had passed to be engrossed 
for a third reading, and, about the middle of April, passed up to 
the Senate. In the Senate, Hayne was the leading antagonist and, 
in the opinion of Judge O'Neall, he fairly competed with Webster 
on that question.^ A thorough examination of all available ac- 
counts will show this to be no exaggeration. Of course, both were 
ably seconded, Webster notably by McDuffie and Hayne by Macon 
and Lloyd; but these two in their respective spheres were the 
leading opponents to the bill.^ No panegyric ever passed on 
Webster's effort equals in grace and forceful simplicity that be- 



' O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 14. 

^ " The debates upon the tariff in the House of Representatives in February, 
March and April and in the Senate in April, 1824, were admirable presentations of 
the subject. Webster in the House and Hayne in the Senate put the free trade side 
. . . Hayne made the really eloquent and masterly speech for which he ought to 
stand in the front rank of orators and which summed up as well for free traders now 
as then the most telling arguments against artificial restrictions." — " Martin Van 
Buren," by Edward M. Shepard (American Statesmen), pp. 85-86. 



HAYNE'S ENTRANCE INTO THE SENATE 155 

stowed upon it by Hayne, although it was used to discredit Webster's 
change of heart in 1828 ; yet we find scarcely any mention in history 
of the fact that, in the Senate, the fight led by Hayne was as vig- 
orous and failed of success by pretty nearly the same margin; 
although it must be admitted, in fairness, that the composition of 
the House possibly gave to Webster the harder task. 

Still it is strange that Webster's effort is known in every quarter 
of our country; while so little is known of that of Hayne that as 
fair and careful a historian as Henry William Elson declares that 
"Hayne would scarcely be known to our national history but 
for the fact that he drew from the greatest of American orators 
the greatest oration of his life." ^ It must be acknowledged that 
the education of such, conducted upon the floor of the Senate, is 
no light claim to distinction; but had Mr. Elson once perused 
the speech made by Hayne in 1824, or been acquainted with the 
incessant raids by which he cut into the tariff bill by continual 
amendments that session, he must have enlarged somewhat his 
estimate of the man. The abridged debates of Congress give but 
little idea of the extent and cogency, the luminous character, the 
thorough knowledge of the subject in hand and the splendid, 
equable temper which marked Hayne' s discussion of the bill; 
but the abridged debates do show that the conclusion of the speech 
brought Senator Dickerson, who was in charge of the bill in the 
Senate, instantly to his feet in an eft'ort to counteract its effect, 
opening with a compliment to Hayne's legal knowledge and an 
assertion of his ignorance of manufactures, followed by not the 
smallest demonstration of the latter. Benton, in 1854, writes, 
" If the Hayne of 1824 and 1832 was now alive, I think his practical 
and utilitarian mind would be seeking a proper remedy for the 
real grievance now so much greater than ever. " ^ To which might 

* "History of the United States," Vol. 3, p. 113. 
= Benton, "Thirty Years' View," Vol. 2, p. 1S8. 



156 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

well be added, if the Benton of 1824 had only been then thoroughly 
alive to the growing evil to which the tariff of that year was des- 
tined to give birth and had but carried one other vote with him, 
the bill might have shared the fate of the Baldwin bill of 1820. 
But Benton's vote helped the bill achieve its close victory. While 
the bill passed by a vote of 25 to 22, and effort after effort to amend 
was met by this solid phalanx, yet with his determined and repeated 
assaults Hayne did wring some concessions. He drew over two 
of its supporters to his amendment, reducing the duty on blankets, 
which was carried by 24 to 23/ But he accomplished a feat more 
remarkable than this, and one that deserves to be remembered by 
all lovers of books. It seems extraordinary that with such a pro- 
vision, as he criticised, the bill should have passed the House and 
survived the assault one would suppose Webster would have made 
upon it; but that it should have been seriously defended in the 
Senate seems even more strange; defended, however, it was, and 
that vigorously, by votes if not by argument. On this point, Hayne 
drew six votes in support of his amendment, and carried it by a 
majority of three. The amendment was to strike out the duty of 
37I cents per pound on books when bound, and 33 per cent per 
pound on books when in boards or sheets, and to insert a duty of 
— per cent ad valorem in lieu thereof, Hayne stated that in making 
this motion his object was, in the first place, to get rid of this singular 
duty on books by the pound, and, in the second place, to substitute 
a very moderate duty (one not exceeding the then existing duty 
of 15 per cent) in lieu of the proposed duty, which he considered 
as equal to 40 per cent at least. He contended that the duty on 
books ought to be such as to encourage the importation of foreign 
books in general use. It was well known, he urged, that the Amer- 
ican book-seller could not only enter into competition with books 
printed abroad, but had almost excluded them from the market; 

' City Gazette, May 14, 1824. 



HAYNE'S ENTRANCE INTO THE SENATE 



157 



but there was a class of books, he argued, not generally read, 
though very important to professional and scientific men, which 
were not generally published in this country. No obstacles should 
be interposed to prevent the introduction of such books. He stated 
that he considered books as raw material essential to the formation 
of the mind, the morals and the character of the people, which 
should be introduced free of duty. He also strongly objected to 
duty on books by the pound. "The value of a book," he asserted 
with grave but delicate sarcasm, "did not depend on its weight, 
and he compared the method of estimating books to that mentioned 
in Knickerbocker's ' History of New York,' where the Dutch Gov- 
ernor settled mercantile transactions by weighing the merchant's 
books of account in scales." ^ Dickerson's protests were unavailing, 
and even in the House, where the amendment in its entirety failed 
to successfully run the gantlet, books printed in Greek did, 
the supporters of the bill shrinking from the hopeless attempt of 
fostering by any amount of duty the manufacture of Greek books 
in sufficient bulk to pay. The open-hearted brigandage of the bill 
was, however, placidly announced by Martindale in the House, 
with the bland declaration: "If they (the South) would avoid 
the increased duty, let them buy of us. We will soon sell to them 
as cheaply as England." Eighty-three years have passed, colossal 
fortunes have been amassed and that promised condition has not 
yet arrived. 

But now should be taken up Hayne's main argument against 
the passage of the bill into law. 

* Ibid., May 17, 1824. 






CHAPTER n 

hayne's great speech against the tariff of 1824 

In his opening the young Senator thus addressed the body with 
which he had only been connected some four or five months: "I 
rise to address you, Mr. President, under a greater weight of respon- 
sibility than I have ever before experienced. Being under a solemn 
conviction that the system recommended by this bill (should it 
become the settled policy of the country) is calculated to create 
jealousies, — to banish all common sympathy among the people 
and array particular States and certain peculiar interests in deadly 
hostility towards each other, — I cannot but consider the final triumph 
of such a policy as destined to put in Jeopardy the peace and har- 
mony of the whole Union." Following this line he prophesies 
successive acts continually engaging the attention of Congress 
"in settling the conflicting claims of interested monopolists and 
attempting to measure out to the several States and the various 
employments of labor and capital an equal proportion of protection 
and encouragement." Then, alluding to the dangers to which 
the South, in his judgment, will be exposed, he modestly declares: 
"The question has been discussed by some of the ablest men our 
country has produced, and almost all the arguments which belong 
to it have been already urged in a manner the most forcible and in 
language the most persuasive. I did hope. Sir, that every shadow 
of doubt, which the influence of preconceived opinions or the 
suggestions of interest had thrown around the subject, would 
have been dispelled by the extensive and profound learning — the 
brilliant wit — and the delightful and almost resistless eloquence 

158 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE TARIFF OF 1824 159 

with which it has been treated by my friends." Some effort, 
however, he realizes, is expected from him, and, " as in the course 
of the debate on this floor, exploded doctrines and arguments, a 
thousand times refuted, have been revived, it is perhaps proper 
that they should be again answered." He accordingly declares 
his purpose to ascertain "the true character of the bill — to ex- 
amine the principles on which it is founded — to consider its objects 
— and to take a brief view of its probable effects." If this preface 
be considered too long, attention is directed to what Mr. G. M. 
Pinckney, in his "Coming Crisis," describes as "Carrier Pigeon 
Intermezzo," in which he declares that those birds of strongest 
flight, "when released from confinement" and "rising up into the 
air," "turn around and around repeatedly before departing for 
their selected destination."^ "Apparently," he suggests, "this 
is necessary for them to ascertain their bearings with certainty." 
Hayne's preface concluded, however, no further criticism can be 
directed against delay; for he proceeds to pour upon the bill a 
flood of light, in an appeal directed almost entirely to the reasoning 
faculties of his hearers. Stripped of all unnecessary oratorical 
ornaments, the argument proceeds with compelling force. The 
bill, he says, is not a revenue measure. "With a surplus in the 
Treasury of six millions of dollars — at a period when we are 
anticipating the payment of our debts, with the certain prospect 
of extinguishing the whole national debt, without any increase of 
revenue in ten years ; it would indeed be idle to talk of the necessity 
of laying new burthens on the people. I will do my opponents, 
however, the justice to say, that though that subject has been inci- 
dentally mentioned, they have not pretended to defend this as a 
revenue bill. Indeed, had they proposed to raise money for any 
national object, or even suggested ' a judicious revision of the tariff,' 
they would not have found the gentlemen from the South enlisted 

* G. M. Pinckney, "Coming Crisis," p. 29. 



l6o ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

against them. That we are found exerting all our energies against 
this measure, arises from the fact that it does not originate from 
a legitimate source and has not a constitutional object; that it is 
not, in short, a measure intended for revenue, but on the contrary, 
has been devised by a new school of political ' restrictionists,' who 
are actively and ardently engaged in the dangerous experiment of 
promoting by law particular employments of labor and capital. . . . 
The principle contained in this bill is that the importation of all 
foreign goods must be prohibited, which we are supposed to be 
capable of making at home. . . ." " Prohibition," he contended, 
was the true object of the bill, and after citing declarations from 
various supporters, he alludes to the disciplining which one of its 
advocates received at the hands of his colleagues in the House. 
" In the course of the consideration of the hemp duty, an honorable 
member from Pennsylvania (Mr. Buchanan) intimated a reluc- 
tance to go faster than the growth of our manufactures would 
warrant, and ventured to express an opinion 'that the Western 
hemp ought to be brought into fair competition with that of for- 
eigners.' Now, how was this idea of competition received ? Why, 
it brought down upon his head the sharp rebuke of his friends. 
The Honorable Speaker declared the bill had received an attack 
from a most unexpected quarter, and Mr. Tod replied, 'if the 
gentleman voted throughout on that principle (which it must be 
noted was a fair competition), he must vote against the whole bill.' " 
After amplifying quotations to show that the principle of the bill 
was unquestionably prohibition, he addresses himself to a con- 
sideration of the act of 1816, "called by the gentlemen on the 
other side prohibitory and therefore held up as an example." 
He asserts that it "imposed duties merely sufficient to enable 
existing establishments to bear up against the pressure of the 
times"; but expressly provided that the duties should be subse- 
quently diminished. This, he claims, was the policy recommended 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE TARIFF OF 1824 161 

by Alexander Hamilton. No matter how modified, he contends 
that the principle of prohibition, immediate or eventual, is recog- 
nized so long as the progressive duties are retained, and he closes 
this branch of the discussion with a spirited attack on "the Ameri- 
can policy of encouraging home industries" until importations 
and imports shall cease, as " a policy foreign in all its features — 
confessedly borrowed from Great Britain — Chinese in its charac- 
ter (for it deprives our citizens of the ocean which rolls at their feet) 
— the policy of kings and tyrants, of restriction and monopoly — 
at variance with all our institutions — and involving the loss of our 
ships, our seamen and our navy." Proceeding, he states another 
objection to the bill to be, that "it assumes that government is 
capable of regulating industry better than individuals — a position 
which is wholly untenable. From the very nature of things," 
he declares, "labor and capital should be permitted to seek their 
own employment under the guidance entirely of individual prudence 
and sagacity. Government, from the very elevation of its position, 
is necessarily incapable of taking that close view of the subject 
and obtaining that accurate knowledge of details indispensable 
to a judicious determination of the relative advantages of different 
pursuits in any community." Then, warming with his theme, 
he announces: "I will appeal with confidence to the Senate and 
ask whether the most notorious facts have not been denied or 
perverted and the most contradictory statements submitted, and 
whether we are not at this moment left in a profound ignorance 
not only of the actual rate of profits, but of the true condition of 
every branch of manufacturing industry ? We are not, we cannot 
therefore know, either the degree of protection wanted or the best 
means of extending it. . . . Here is said to be a flourishing manu- 
facture (the manufacture of cotton goods, etc.), and therefore it is to 
be encouraged by excluding the foreign article; here is a languishing 
establishment (the woollen manufactures), and it must be sustained ; 

M 



l62 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

while such as have no existence are to be created — some because 
they require much skill and large capital, and others because they 
require neither skill nor capital (hemp and flax, cotton bagging 
and whiskey). Some branches of industry are to be encouraged 
because others are overdone; but these must also be protected 
against foreign competition, threatening to destroy them. There 
are duties on the manufactured articles and duties on the raw 
material; and, in short, the whole bill is such a tissue of incon- 
sistencies that the intelligent chairman of the committee does 
not pretend to know, and has certainly not attempted to explain, 
either the amount of duties it will impose or the degree of protection 
it will extend to any branch of industry. In attempting to gratify 
the wishes of interested individuals we are legislating in the dark, 
and by wholesale distributing the national funds by a species 
of State lottery, scattering abroad bounties and premiums 
of unknown amount; and all this without the rational prospect 
of producing any effect save that of sowing the seeds of dissension 
among the people and thereby introducing mischiefs, which may 
last to the remotest generation. We are literally, Mr. President, 
opening a Pandora's box of political evils, which when they have 
gone abroad will not even leave hope at the bottom." 

In order to attack the argument with the greater power, Hayne 
admits that "the system of regulating by law the private pursuits 
of men, or what amounts to the same thing, passing laws for 
increasing the profits of certain employments and lessening the 
profits of others, thereby driving men from the pursuits of their 
choice to those which the government is pleased to favor," — had 
been sanctioned by other nations. He deemed it, however, "a 
part of that system of tyranny and arbitrary rule to which men 
have been subjected in every age." In a comprehensive review, 
showing wide reading, he pursues this branch in a vein of genUe 
satire, rising gradually in pitch and power, in dignity and grandeur, 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE TARIFF OF 1824 163 

to a passage in which he apotheosizes the Union in terms of beau- 
tiful simplicity, worthy of comparison with any ever fashioned. 
Passing from a consideration of the doctrine of regulation in 
England, he points to the fact that in other parts of Europe it 
is carried still farther, and " a man's religious and political opinions 
are taken ' in the holy keeping ' of those whose only qualification 
for the task consists in their anxious desire to keep down the as- 
pirations of the immortal mind, and make mere machines of beings, 
who have been endowed by their Creator with the noblest faculties 
and for the noblest purposes." 

"In the East, however," he avers that the system had been 
"carried to the greatest perfection, the people divided into castes 
and every man compelled to pursue the trade of his father; while 
in China the power of the Emperor is exercised even on the dead." 
He admits, therefore, that "governments have everywhere and in 
every age presumed to regulate man in all his pursuits. Every- 
thing connected with his existence from the cradle to the grave, 
nay, beyond the grave : the language he shall speak — the name 
he shall bear — the food he shall eat — the trade he shall follow — 
what he shall sow and what he shall reap — his hours of labor 
and of rest — the place in which he shall dwell — the opinions he 
shall cherish or express — the books he shall read and the God 
he shall worship : everything, in short, which belongs to him as a 
created being is the subject of arbitrar}^ regulation, and man is 
made a creature without heart or soul or mind, a mere machine 
obedient to the will of the human artist, who puts it into operation. 
But, Sir, we were taught to believe that the establishment of our 
government formed a new era in the history of the world, and that 
the practical operation of our Constitution was destined to exhibit 
a splendid example of the perfection to which man would attain 
when freed from the shackles which had been imposed on him 
in other countries. We were taught to ex-pect that a government 



i64 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

instituted by the people and administered for their benefit alone, 
where the human mind would be left without restraint to pursue 
its own happiness, in its own way, must by its good fruits recommend 
a free system to all nations. I can well recollect, Sir, that among 
the first lessons instilled into my mind, that which made the deepest 
and most lasting impression was to consider the Republican in- 
stitutions of my country like the air which we breathe, as bestowing 
life and health and happiness, without our being conscious of the 
means by which these inestimable gifts are conferred; like the 
Providence of God, unfelt and unseen, yet dispensing the richest 
blessings to all the children of men. But these, we are told, are 
the illusions of the imagination. Man cannot be safely left to 
mark out his own course; but here, as elsewhere, the various 
employments of industry and capital must be so artificially arranged 
and balanced as to produce results to be prescribed by law. We 
have been further told. Sir, that our beloved country is in a state 
of such unparalleled suffering that desperate remedies have become 
necessary to save the people — I presume from 'their worst enemies, 
themselves.' " Descending again to the level of sober argument and 
discussing the existing depression, which he admits, but denies can 
be called " great distress, " without exaggeration, he points out clearly 
that the neutral position of America, during the Napoleonic wars, had 
been the cause of "the rapid growth and extraordinary prosperity 
of our country," the cessation of these wars occasioning the tem- 
porary depression. "That an increase in wealth beyond all former 
example and in general prosperity without a parallel should have 
sprung out of such a state of things, was natural and indeed inevi- 
table. . . . American enterprise, like the lamp of the magician, 
converted everything it touched into gold; the growth of centuries 
was attained in a few years, and from youth the nation sprang up 
at once and attained not only the vigor and strength of manhood, 
but a giant's stature. It was the necessary consequence of the 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE TARIFF OF 1824 165 

state of prosperity, which I have described, that habits of expense 
should be formed, which nothing but extraordinary profits could 
support. ... At the very moment that we were indulging in 
golden dreams of endless prosperity, the restoration of tran- 
quillity to Europe, and the return of all nations to the arts and pur- 
suits of peace, brought her subjects at once into competition with 
our merchants and farmers in all those pursuits from which they 
had reaped such rich rewards. The loss, in a great degree, of the 
foreign market for our grain and of the carrying trade ; the loss, 
in one word, of our neutral position, produced a change in the con- 
dition of the people which could not fail to be severely felt. . . . 
To pass immediately from wealth to comparative poverty is at 
all times difficult; but when luxurious indulgences have become 
fixed, this cannot be successfully accomplished except by men of 
strong minds and firm resolutions; this nation has been called 
upon to undergo that change — to give up the luxuries for the 
conveniences, and in some cases for the necessaries of life — 
to exchange the ease of unbounded prosperity for the habits of 
persevering industry and hard labor. . . . The whole of our 
calamities, Mr. President, may be summed up in a few words, — 
debts and want of money. Now debts cannot be paid without 
money, and as we have no mines and cannot manufacture silver 
and gold, I am at a loss to conceive how we are to obtain money 
or discharge our debts by cutting off foreign trade." 

Having pointed out what he considered the source, he takes up 
the causes assigned by gentlemen on the other side, in reviewing 
which the following passage occurs: "If it be said, that particular 
States have lost a market for their grain and that our exports are 
principally of cotton, rice and tobacco, I will ask if gentlemen 
propose to remedy that inconvenience by equalizing the relative 
advantages of differing portions of the Union? Must the cotton 
planter pay to the grower of wheat a portion of his profits to equal- 



l66 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

ize their incomes? If so, some portion of the immense sums re- 
ceived by the latter for their grain during the war must be brought 
into the account ; for gentlemen will recollect that when our cotton 
was lying in our barns for years together, the people of the West 
were receiving for their flour sometimes as much as $30 or $40 
a barrel, and that the manufacturers then possessed a complete 
monopoly of the home market." 

In the consideration of "the encouragement of home industry," 
he contends that "home industry is as much exerted and American 
labor and capital in all respects as much employed in obtaining an 
article from abroad as in making it at home. If," says he, "we 
can make cloth cheaper at home than we can buy it abroad, we 
will make it at home ; if not, it is to our interest to import it." But 
this rule he qualifies with this important statement: "I admit, 
Mr. President, that there are exceptions to the rules I have laid 
down. I admit that the munitions of war and the articles necessary 
to national defence should be provided at home, no matter at 
what expense, on the ground that we should not expose ourselves 
even to the risk of being left in the event of war without the means 
of self-protection. Beyond this, all duties should be imposed 
merely for the purpose of revenue." 

This abridgment does but scant justice to this splendid argu- 
ment, which should be read in its perfect whole to be appreciated 
at its true worth ; but a few more short extracts are added to give 
some idea of its scope. After a review of the cited "example of 
England," in which a thorough knowledge of the commercial history 
of that great nation enabled him to fairly pulverize the arguments 
of his opponents with incontrovertible documents and governmental 
reports, he passes on to as fully examine the condition of Holland 
and draws from such additional arguments for his cause. He 
denies absolutely any power under the Constitution for the adop- 
tion of a system for the avowed purpose of encouraging particular 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE TARIFF OF 1824 167 

branches of industry, and maintains with fervor that the regulation 
and annihilation of commerce are synonymous terms. He de- 
clares that the Southern members will take advantage of the first 
opportunity which presents itself to repeal a system made profit- 
able at their expense, and, piercing "the veil of the future with 
prophetic ken," warns the Senate that : " This system is in its very 
nature progressive. Grant what you may now, the manufacturers 
will never be satisfied; do what you may for them, the advocates 
of home industry will never be content until every article imported 
from abroad which comes into competition with anything made 
at home shall be prohibited — until, in short, foreign commerce shall 
be entirely cut off. If we go on in our course," he asserts, "the 
time is at hand when these seats will be filled by the owners of 
manufacturing establishments, and these will call upon you with 
one voice for a monopoly of the raw material at their own prices." 
Protesting against the danger of a too rapid advancement of manu- 
factures, claiming that it is the order of Providence that powers 
gradually developed shall alone attain permanence and perfection, 
Hayne closes his memorable effort with a quotation from Washing- 
ton that "our policy should hold an equal and impartial hand, 
neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences — 
consulting the natural course of things — diffusing by gentle 
means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing." * 

' Speech of Mr. Hayne against the Tariff Bill, April, 1824, Pamphlets, Charles- 
ton Library Society, Vol. 2, Part 3. Charleston: A. E. Miller, 1824. 



CHAPTER III 
hayne's controversy with ex-senator smith, the latter's 

' WAR ON CALHOUN. CALHOUN'S ABANDONMENT OF HIS CAN- 
VASS FOR THE PRESIDENCY 

The speech just considered is more than a discussion of the tar- 
iff; it is illustrative of one of the two schools of thought which, half 
a century later, the author of "The American Commonwealth" 
clearly points out, have divided the people of the United States 
from the formation of the government. There is in it, also, the 
distinct, if temperate, warning that the South recognizes that she 
is being exploited, and that, while condemning slavery in the ab- 
stract, the North and West have combined to force into their own 
pockets a portion of the results of slave labor. Not that there is 
any allusion to slavery, for there is none; but there is reference 
to the supposed wealth of the South and to the fact that she is 
regarded as "the India of America, from which the inhabitants of 
every other region must have a prescriptive right to draw a large 
portion of their wealth." ^ It is true the speech failed to kill the 
bill, which passed by a narrow majority ; but that the determined 
fight made by its author with others was productive of results, is 
evidenced by the assertion in a note appended to the published 
version that "the bill received no less than thirty-seven amendments 
in the Senate, nearly all of which tended to render its operation less 
oppressive and to deprive it of its prohibitory character, although 

' Speech of Mr. Hayne Pamphlet, Charleston Library Society, Vol. 2, Part 3, 
Ser. I. 

168 



THE CONTROVERSY WITH EX-SENATOR SMITH 169 

the principle of progressive duties was retained." Yet one of 
these amendments must be criticised — one which was carried 
through by the remarkable vote of 29 to 18/ a concession to or 
genuine sympathy with Southern taste, to say the least unfortunate, 
Hayne did not move this particular amendment, which was to 
reduce the duty on frying-pans; but when Branch of North Caro- 
lina did, he supported it, and evidently a number of Western sena- 
tors incontinently deserted the tariff flag and rushed to the rescue 
of the beloved culinary instrument, thus securing unchecked opera- 
tion for the destructive force of what has been denominated by 
a keen-witted Southerner as "the most deadly weapon used in the 
South." 

While the fight was being waged in the Senate, Hayne suddenly 
found himself exposed to a hot fire from his own State. Judge 
William Smith had been defeated for reelection to the United States 
Senate, but by no means politically killed in South Carolina; there 
he remained a powerful force. 

In the latter part of January, 1824, Mr. Calhoun had considered 
his prospects for the Presidency good. He was standing "wholly 
on his own basis." ^ But by March the 3d his hopes were pretty 
well dashed to the ground through the action of Pennsylvania, 
which in convention, by a nearly unanimous vote of 125 members, 
declared for Andrew Jackson as her nominee for President ; while 
by a vote of only 80 she named John C. Calhoun as a candidate for 
the Vice-Presidency.^ Pennsylvania was the State to which Cal- 
houn had evidently alluded in 182 1 as so far committed to his 
support as to prevent him from withdrawing when his own State 
named Lowndes. After the death of Lowndes and the nomina- 
tion of Calhoun by South Carolina n 1823, the sentiment in Penn- 
sylvania should have been stronger; but the above shows what it 

' Abridged Debates of Congress, 1821-1824. 
'"Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 217. ^ City Gazette, March 15, 1824. 



170 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

really amounted to. Whether Smith's fire, which never slackened, 
contributed to weaken Calhoun's candidacy, is not to be determined, 
but that he exhibited to a great degree the power of satire when 
skilfully used as a weapon, is not to be denied. Emboldened by 
the silence of Calhoun and McDuffie, upon whom he had vented his 
spleen, about the latter part of March, 1824, he extended the scope 
of his articles and took in Hayne, using all the resources of his able 
mind and stinging pen to wound him also. In an article headed 
"To the Good People of South Carolina," appearing in the Colum- 
bia Telescope and republished in the press of the State (for it was 
spicy reading), he declared : "When I had been proscribed by the 
friends of Mr. Secretary Calhoun and Colonel R, Y. Hayne, because 
I was opposed to placing Mr. Calhoun at the head of this nation, 
he being a native^ of the State of South Carolina, and a loud cry 
raised in his favor, I considered it a duty I owed to a respectable 
community whose confidence I had had, as the attack had been 
violent and acrimonious, to give the reasons why I was opposed 
to that gentleman." Elaborating these, he speaks of the various 
letters in which he had set forth his views and, continuing, states 
that he had transmitted to Messrs. Gales and Seaton a fifth letter, 
which they had declined to publish in the National Intelligencer, 
declaring that "in (their) our view it passes the line of defence and 
assumes the character of an attack. Indeed, if we may rely on an 
article published in the National Intelligencer, signed ' South Caro- 
lina' and sanctioned by no less than six representatives in Congress 
from that State, there would appear to be but little doubt of your 
obtaining admission in almost any paper within your own State, 
and particularly in that print in which they state the attack on you 
first appeared." This article the ex-senator thinks "was such an 
extraordinary interposition for six representatives to make under 
a mask," that he states he determined to obtain their names, and, 
as they had been handed in, he apparently had no difficulty, and 



THE CONTROVERSY WITH EX-SENATOR SMITH 171 

he announced them to be Mr. Hayne of the Senate and Messrs, 
McDuffie, Hamilton, Poinsett, Govan and Carter of the House. 
"If," declared Judge Smith, "Messrs. Gales and Seaton had said 
of their own accord they were unwilling to print the letter, I would 
have acquiesced; but," he continued, "for six representatives to 
march in a body to a printing-house and stop a publication, having 
for its object the investigation of the political history of a candidate 
for the Presidency at a moment when the people were anxious to 
examine the claims, was such a flagrant .outrage " that he could not 
yield a ready acquiescence. Then, after berating Calhoun and 
McDuffie, he turned his attention to Hayne, and taking advantage 
of some rather high-swelling periods of Henry L. Pinckney's 
advocacy of Hayne for the Senate against the Judge, in which 
Pinckney had surmised that although Hayne had never been en- 
gaged in warfare, none could doubt his readiness to die upon the 
field of battle, the Judge alludes to the writer as "introducing his 
brother-in-law (not by that epithet), Colonel Hayne, through the 
circle of civil offices and then into the field of Mars," and wickedly 
suggests, in a biting little note, "It is certainly fortunate for Lord 
Packenham that this gentleman never met him. He would not 
have been a breakfast spell for him." Judge Smith then explains 
that he had never said anything against Hayne until the latter 
had officiously intermeddled with his rights, and under a masked 
name. Having disposed of Hayne, he goes back again to Cal- 
houn, stating that, although it is said he has withdrawn his name, 
"as a candidate which" he. Smith, "always knew he would be 
obliged to do," yet he will continue his investigations, and he 
accordingly elaborates his objections to Calhoun.^ 

But if Calhoun and McDuffie were prepared to lie quiescent 
under the charges of the fierce old man, not so Hayne. The 
latter promptly strung his bow and sent home a shaft which struck 

* Columbia Telescope, March 20, 1824, quoted in City Gazette, March 26, 1824. 



172 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



the object aimed at fair and true, completely silencing the critic. 
Putting the charge just as Judge Smith had stated it, he declares 
it an " unwarrantable accusation, no part of which is well founded" ; 
positively denies "that the gentlemen named ever went down, in a 
body or otherwise ; that they stopped or attempted, directly or in- 
directly, to interfere with the publication," and asserts "that the 
only foundation for this charge is a letter annexed which they 
published, addressed to the editors, which does not even intimate 
a wish to that effect, and which but for the remarks of the editor 
of the Intelligencer, imputing to the State a violation of the free- 
dom of the press, would not have appeared," Sure of his ground, 
and needing but to state his defence truly, he makes the truth sink 
deep in the clean-cutting phrase, "It is of little consequence from 
what source such accounts proceeded ; it was for us sufficient to 
know they were calculated to injure the State and were unsupported 
by facts." He asserts, he thought then and still thinks, he was 
under the same obligation to vindicate the character of the State 
he represented as to defend the reputation of a parent. Then he 
gives the Judge a touch of gentle criticism in a suggestion with 
regard to the heading of his attack, viz., that it might have been 
more appropriate, "From the Good People of South Carolina to 
the Good People of the United States." Selecting, finally, the 
weakest point of his adversary's statement, he observes: "There 
might have been a shadow of excuse for Judge Smith in making 
his unfounded accusation if the editors had charged us with sup- 
pressing his letter; but what are we to think of the allegation, when 
made in the face of the letter from the editors published in part by 
Judge Smith himself, in which they expressly put their refusal 
on the ground that the letter passes the line of defence and assumes 
the character of attack?" Even the witty allusion to his brother- 
in-law's eulogistic reference to himself he replies to with a dignity 
and temperance compelling respect, "I do not believe it can be 



THE CONTROVERSY WITH EX-SENATOR SMITH 



173 



necessary for me to reply to accusations founded on the suppo- 
sition that I am responsible for all the opinions of my friends, and 
am also bound to disclaim sentiments contained in an anonymous 
piece I have no recollection of having read." In conclusion, he 
states that he has "sincerely endeavored to avoid any controversy 
with Judge Smith, which the respect due his age, the high station 
he has occupied and his public services could not fail to render 
painful "to the writer's feelings, and he regrets that the latter seems 
disposed to force upon him a controversy in which nothing but self- 
defence could ever induce him (Hayne) to engage/ 

In this admirable reply there is not one ill-tempered word, and 
the sting of it is the truth of it. It was addressed to a manly man, 
and it sufficed. 

Judge Smith, however, was having difficult work in canvassing 
for Crawford. That South Carolina still took an intense pride 
and interest in the Union, is most clearly evinced by this very 
opposition to Crawford ; for when Calhoun dropped out, Crawford 
was the only Presidential candidate who represented those policies 
which the State's representatives declared were of vital force. He 
was the only candidate who was not a protectionist; for the most 
that could be said for Jackson and Adams was that neither of them 
was as pronounced a protectionist as Clay. It was Crawford's 
extreme State Rights view that the followers of Calhoun thought 
made him dangerous to the Union. 

About what time in the year 1824 Calhoun absolutely aban- 
doned his canvass for the Presidency, it is difficult to state posi- 
tively. In Houston's "Critical Study of Nullification" appears a 
letter ^ accepted as genuine and reproduced by Professor Jameson, 
giving a very interesting defence of his position on State Rights. 

' City Gazette, April 14, 1824. 

^ Montgomery Daily Advertiser, March 7, 1893; "Calhoun's Correspondence," 
p. 221. 



174 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



This letter is to Congressman Garnett of Virginia, and while avoid- 
ing any positive declaration on State Rights is still an argument 
that no utterance of his can be cited which "could give offence to 
the most ardent defender" ; while, he contends, for any act so con- 
sidered, his critics must be prepared to also condemn Jefferson, 
Madison and Monroe. This letter is marked July 3, 1824, and 
would appear to be in the nature of a Presidential argument to a 
possible supporter; but by the 8th, after the failure of the Edwards 
charges, in which he and Adams acted together against Crawford, 
he signalizes that close action with the former by writing to Joel 
R. Poinsett, offering him Edwards's place as Minister to Mexico, 
if he is sure that the Presidential contest would not be affected by 
his giving up his place as representative, in the consideration of 
which he is permitted to "consult Hayne or Hamilton or, should it 
be thought advisable, McDuffie." * Prior to these dates, therefore, 
the committee of Congress must have cleared Crawford in their re- 
port, and the author of the charges have resigned and disappeared. 
Benton declares this episode injured Calhoun, and certainly there 
was a coldness in certain quarters in his own State otherwise 
pecuHar, A writer under the name of "Sumpter" attacks him in 
regard to it.^ Whether this was old General Sumter or not, does 
not positively appear, but the old General was closely allied to the 
faction led by Smith, and it would seem presumptuous for the name 
to be so used by any one else in South Carolina during his lifetime. 
In an oration delivered by John Phillips of St. Andrew's Parish, 
where all the worthies of the Revolutionary War were extolled, 
where a beautiful tribute is paid to Lowndes, where "the cap- 
tivating eloquence of Hayne, the intellectual display and erudition 
of McDuffie and the laudable zeal of Hamilton" are all rec- 
ognized, not one word appears with regard to him whom the State 
had named for the highest office in the gift of the Republic barely 

'"Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 224. ^ City Gazette, July i, 1824. 



THE CONTROVERSY WITH EX-SENATOR SMITH 175 

six months before.* But more than this, "Cassius," in the Co- 
lumbia Telescope, attacks him, declaring that he "was a distin- 
guished orator in the House of Representatives ; but among those 
who were in the House with him there were several his superiors. 
Mr, Lowndes and Mr. Cheves from his own State were decidedly 
so, as were also Mr. Clay, Mr. Pin(c)kney, Mr. Stockton and 
Mr. Webster; Mr. Grundy, Mr. Oakly, Mr Forsyth, Mr. Gros- 
venor and Mr, Gaston were generally considered his equals. To 
be ranked, however, with these gentlemen, implies a high degree 
of excellence in the art of oratory which Mr. Calhoun certainly 
possesses." ^ Having accorded him this faint praise, "Cassius" 
attacks his record as Secretary of War savagely. In far better taste 
and style, and therefore distinctly more impressive, the statement 
of Congressman Gist of York District, of his reasons for attending 
the congressional caucus issued in the spring, was now in the 
fall reproduced. The admirable tone of this paper ; the eminently 
sensible reason given by the writer for his support of Crawford, 
whom he but slightly knew, but whom he preferred on account of 
his political sentiments, opposed as he was to a tariff save for 
revenue; and the temperate declaration, — "It was generally be- 
lieved, I might say, there was no doubt Mr. Calhoun could not be 
elected, as his withdrawal since has proven, — " ^ all these things 
affected Calhoun's hold on the State. But beyond even the as- 
saults of the deposed senator as a candidate for the Legislature, 
and as a correspondent of the press, a pamphleteer was making 
havoc with Calhoun's popularity. 

Some time in October, 1824, appeared a pamphlet, entitled 
"Consolidation, an Account of Parties in the United States from 
the Convention of 1787 to the Present Period," It could have been 
more fairly entitled " A Diatribe on Calhoun," for that was what 

' Ibid., July 19, 1824. * Ibid., Aug. 10, 1824. 

^ Ibid., Sept. 24, 1824. 



176 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

it really was. Charles Pinckney, it is true, was put before the 
public in a new light, and Timothy Pickering and John Adams were 
subjected to severe castigation; but it was upon John Quincy 
Adams and Calhoun that the writer directed the full play of his 
sarcasm. It is noteworthy that while opposed to the school of 
Alexander Hamilton, he compliments the intellect of that states- 
man, and while criticising the politics of Hayne, Hamilton, Poinsett 
and McDuffie, on account of their tendency to consolidation, he 
gives them credit for their recent efforts in Congress, describing 
them as "some of the most zealous and useful sons of South Caro- 
lina — men who, with industry and perseverance, knowledge and 
ability worthy of all praise, defended the rights of the South against 
the ignorant and selfish speculations of the tariff men. " ^ There 
were inaccuracies in the pamphlet ; but the main contention, that 
"Mr. Adams, Mr. Calhoun and General Jackson supported to the 
utmost of their power a principle and a measure which from the 
very moment of party difference has decidedly characterized the 
Federal party — consolidation is the motto of their flag" — had a 
basis to rest upon. As long as Calhoun remained a candidate, 
the question might admit of argument; but when he withdrew 
and the contest lay between Jackson, Clay, Crawford and Adams 
for the opponents of the tariff, to support any one but Crawford 
was to stultify themselves ; yet his opponents were unable to make 
the Legislature of South Carolina realize the fact because of the 
devotion of the mass of her population to the Union, which they 
thought the success of Crawford might imperil. Coupled with this 
was the fact that while South Carolina was against the tariff, her 
people were not opposed to internal improvements, and as each 
tariff was hopefully regarded by the mass as the final adjustment, 
they were not ready to put the Union against freedom from this 
scheme of plunder. Thomas Cooper, the author of the pamphlet 

> Pamphlet, Charleston Library Society, Vol. 2, Part 3, Ser. i. 



THE CONTROVERSY WITH EX-SENATOR SMITH 177 

alluded to above, was too keen a political observer not to note this 
distinction in the State between the regard for these two policies, 
and while he attempts to ridicule Calhoun for what he calls his 
"frolic to Deep Creek on the top of the Alleghany," he declares that 
he is "by no means an enemy to internal improvements, if they are 
executed upon some plan of equahty among the respective States." 
But this, he says, no system proposed, contains. Fmally, he 
makes the declaration of the honest partisan: "Fellow-citizens, 
it is vain to say the monster party may be destroyed ; people who 
honestly and with views and intentions equally honest differ on 
principle must ever remain two parties. There need be no animos- 
ity, because, going both of us to the same point C, you prefer the 
road A, and I think better of the road B. Still the difference must 
and will remain, nor do I believe the country would gain much by 
amalgamation. It is well for both of us to be watched." ^ Grim 
old fighter ! What a world of wisdom is this last ! But South 
Carolina could not be drawn to Crawford, and through her Legis- 
lature gave her electoral vote to the Hero of New Orleans for 
President and John C. Calhoun for Vice-President by 135 votes for 
Jackson to 15 for Adams, and only 10 for Crawford. " Of the three 
candidates for the Presidency," says a writer in the City Gazette, 
"two, Jackson and Adams, are known to be in favor of consolida- 
tion, one, Crawford, in favor of State Rights. We are aware that 
in this State we have much to contend with. Popularity, ever 
vacillating, has in a measure departed from the old Democratic 
(Republican party) and attached itself to seceders from its ranks. 
. . . Whatever may be considered, the claims of General Jackson 
have already been determined; but if subsequent events should 
render necessary not a change of opinion toward the individual, but 
a change of views, it will be most natural and wise to adopt them." ^ 

' Pamphlet, Charleston Library Society, Vol. 2, Part 3, Ser. i. 
2 City Gazette, Dec. 13, 1824. 

N 



CHAPTER IV 

THE CONTROVERSY OVER CANNING'S PROTEST CONCERNING SOUTH 
CAROLINA'S LEGISLATION WITH REGARD TO NEGROES EN- 
TERING HER PORTS. HAYNE'S OPINION AS TO THE TONE OF 
THE LEGISLATURE. THE RESOLUTION OF SENATOR KING 
OF NEW YORK. HAYNE'S REPLY 

There came before this Legislature of South Carolina, however, 
a matter which did put the match to the fire of sectionalism, if 
the blaze still smouldered for a while. At the very time in which 
South Carolina was opposing Crawford against her own interests 
on account of her devotion to the Union, the Federal government, 
at the instigation of Mr. Canning, the British Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, was taking the State to task concerning regulations with 
respect to negroes entering the port of Charleston, enacted in 1822. 
The matter has been treated by Mr. McMaster in his great history/ 
but inaccurately. The communication of the Secretary of State, 
with the opinion of the Attorney- General of the United States, had 
been submitted to the Legislature by Governor Wilson, accom- 
panied by a message which, despite its bombastic conclusion, 
disclosed an exact knowledge of the subject under discussion, and 
furnished an argument which even the great Canning would have 
found some difficulty in replying to. After contending that a State 
has the same right of self-defence as an individual, and that it is 
competent for each community to make such regulations and to 
stipulate such conduct as appears on the best considerations to 
produce the greatest good and security, in support of which he 

» "History of the People of the United States," Vol. 5, p. 201. 

178 



THE BRITISH PROTEST 179 

cites then existing laws in England concerning Roman Catholics, 
he declares that "the President and his advisers, so far from re- 
sisting the efforts of a foreign minister, seem disposed by an argu- 
ment drawn from the overwhelming powers of the General Gov- 
ernment, to make us the passive instruments of a policy at war with 
our interests, but destructive of our natural existence. The evils 
of slavery have been visited upon us by the cupidity of those who 
are now the champions of universal emancipation. A firm deter- 
mination to resist, at the threshold, every invasion of our domestic 
tranquillity, and to preserve our sovereignty and independence as 
a State, is recommended." ^ This was evidently aimed at England, 
but probably other regulations in other States were cited ; for Mr. 
McMaster says, "The defence were careful not to point out the 
fact that New York did not charge quarantined negro sailors board, 
lodging and fees and sell them into slavery if they could not pay." ^ 
The same writer asserts that the court decided that the act was 
unconstitutional; but declares the seizure of negroes went on just 
the same. But the truth is that it was the act of 1822 which was 
so declared, and in the amendment passed afterwards almost every 
suggestion of Judge Johnson, who framed the decision, was incor- 
porated in the act of 1823, in which there was no provision for 
selling the negroes into slavery, nor did its operations apply to " in- 
dividuals employed in vessels of war of the United States Navy 
or National vessels of any European Power in amity with the United 
States, unless they were found on shore after being warned, or 
with regard to individuals arriving within the limits of the State 
by shipwreck or stress of weather or other unavoidable accident." ^ 
When McMaster treats of the resolutions also, he omits the first 
resolution of the Senate: "That the Legislature of South Carolina 

* City Gazette, Dec. 7, 1824. 

^ McMaster, "History of the People of the United States," Vol. 5, p. 202. 

' Statutes of South Carolina, Vol. 7, p. 464. 



i8o ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

is desirous of complying with any measure necessary to promote 
harmony between the States and the government of the United 
States and foreign nations and will cheerfully comply in all cases 
which do not involve a surrender of the safety and inherent rights of 
the State." ^ What he says of the duty of the State to guard against 
insurrection "paramount to all laws, all treaties, all constitutions, 
etc.," is well put; but the subsequent extract quoted by him as 
part of the resolutions, viz., " that the Legislature was aware of the 
dangerous and insidious conduct of a party in Great Britain and 
the United States, who were ever ready to indulge their benevolent 
propensities at the expense of their neighbors," he could, without 
very much trouble, have discovered, was stricken out. We may 
agree with Hayne, that the resolutions might have been more mod- 
erate and just as effective; but the final declaration of the his- 
torian, that "both branches having refused to repeal the act of 
1822, it remained on the statute book at the opening of the Civil 
War," is, as has been shown, not supported by the facts of the case. 
The temper of the people of South Carolina, however, was 
changing. Yet Governor Wilson, in his message of 1824, two years 
after the attempted insurrection, is just as earnest as Governor 
Bennett, one year before, in recommendations for a mitigation of 
the laws pressing, in his opinion, too harshly on the free colored 
population of the State. There happens to be in existence a letter 
to C. C. Pinckney, Jr., from Hayne of about this date, in which some 
allusion is made, among other matters, to this issue between the 
State and the Federal government, and it puts his view so clearly 
that it should be quoted. It is from Washington, Dec. 21, 1824 : — 

" My dear Sir : — 

" I had the pleasure of receiving your letter, requesting my aid 
in obtaining for the son of our lamented friend, Mr. Lowndes, a 

^ Courier, Dec. 16, 1824. 



THE BRITISH PROTEST l8l 

cadet's warrant. Nothing could give me more pleasure than to 
use my best exertions in any way which could be useful to the fam- 
ily of our deceased friend. But in this case no exertion could be 
necessary. The high standing of Mr. Lowndes & the universal 
feeling of kindness & respect for him while living & of veneration 
for his memory rendered it only necessary to mention the name 
of his son in order to effect the object & a Warrant before this can 
reach you will be in the hands of his grandfather in Charleston. 
While on this subject permit me to say that in a consultation with 
Mr. Cheves this morning in reference to the character & prospects 
of the youth in question (for whose honor and welfare we feel a 
very deep interest) we would recommend to your consideration 
whether the interval which must elapse before he can be received 
at West Point had not better be devoted to study & the for- 
mation of those habits of industry & attention which will be es- 
sential to his future success. Perhaps a private tutor (feeling a 
deep interest in his prosperity) would be best calculated to do him 
good. It will be necessary, I should suppose, that particular at- 
tention should be paid to Arithmetic and Mathematics & these 
sciences would have a tendency to form those habits of the mind 
most favorable to the pursuits in which he is to engage. We have 
very little news here to communicate. The Presidential Election 
has not yet produced much excitement. I feel great confidence of 
the election of General Jackson & certainly the contest will be 
between Mr. Adams and himself. I think a handsome provision 
will be made for General Lafayette. In the Senate we have 
recommended $200,000 & a Township of Land. Something like 
that will, I think, prevail. No other important business will be 
done. The proceedings of our Legislature on the free negro ques- 
tion are certainly not very acceptable here Sz I think it is very 
much to be regretted that a tone at least of more moderation had 
not accompanied whatever measures were deemed necessary on 



l82 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the present occasion. South Carolina, I assure you, has a character 
to sustain & her own dignity requires that no intemperate expres- 
sion, no threats of forcible resistance to the Natl. Govt should ever 
be resorted to. God forbid that the necessity for such should ever 
exist, but at all events let us not contemplate or speak of such an 
event, otherwise than in terms of unmingled honor. Mrs. H. 
desires to be kindly remembered to Mrs. P. and yourself. I am, 
Dear Sir, with the highest respect and esteem, 

"Yours, 

"Robert Y. Hayne."* 

The writer of the above had barely attained his thirty-third year, 
yet he certainly meets the requirements of temperance and dignity of 
expression that his station demanded. Those qualities are not more 
noticeable than his modest, impersonal allusion to the Lafayette 
grant, and the contrast between his allusion and other comments 
of the day is striking. With regard to his connection with that 
measure, Benton says: "In the very second year of his service he 
was appointed to a high duty — such as would belong to age and 
long service as well as to talent and elevated character. He was 
made chairman of the select committee — and select it was — 
which brought in the bill for the- grants ($200,000 in money and 
24,000 acres of land) to Lafayette, and as such he became the 
organ of the expositions, as dehcate as they were responsible, which 
reconciled such grants to the words and spirit of our Constitution 
and adjusted them to the merit and modesty of the receiver: a 
high function, and which he fulfilled to the satisfaction of the 
country." ^ Benton is fully sustained by Niles's Register, which 
under the very date of the above letter says : " Mr. Hayne went into 
a long and able exposition of the General's services; and as to 

* Original in possession of Mrs. St. Julien Ravenel. 
' * • * Benton, "Thirty Years' View," Vol. 2, p. 187. 



THE BRITISH PROTEST 183 

the matter of compensation, made it out that he was fully entitled 
to the sum proposed. (We shall insert the speech at length 
because of the interesting facts it discloses.) " ^ 

Of all inopportune times this, while the Legislature was con- 
sidering the protest of a foreign power with regard to State regula- 
tions concerning free negroes, was the least appropriate for the 
Legislature of Ohio to select in which to make suggestions to 
South Carolina concerning the negro question; for South Caro- 
lina was well informed as to how the free colored inhabitants 
of Ohio were treated, as has been shown, with less consideration 
and justice than they were treated in South Carolina. The 
communication from Ohio was not treated disrespectfully; but 
certainly not in a way to encourage others. The communication 
only assisted the growth of the impression that slavery, although 
recognized by the Constitution, might after all be interfered with. 
General Jackson might be a protectionist, but at all events, with 
him at the head of affairs, there would be no interference with the 
vested rights of the Southern States; and the contest for the Presi- 
dency took on something of the nature of a sectional contest. If it 
be admitted that Mr. McMaster is possibly correct in declaring, as 
he does, that "for the Presidency Lowndes had not the smallest 
chance of success" ; yet, as a moderating influence, Lowndes's pres- 
ence would have been of great value to the country, and the breach, 
which from this time began to open, might not have gaped so widely. 
Had Lowndes lived, he might not have secured any other votes than 
those of South Carolina ; but it is extremely improbable that he 
would ever have passed from the candidacy for President to that of 
Vice-President, and, with the election thrown into the House, the 
immense value of the state of feeling toward him, to which Calhoun 
alluded in referring to him as a candidate in opposition to him- 
self, — "He has few opponents, but still fewer ardent friends," — 

* Niles's Register, Vol. 27, p. 270. 



1 84 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

would have been apparent. Had he been a candidate, his candi- 
dacy would have saved Clay from the necessity of choosing between 
the other candidates and announcing the result in such an unfortu- 
nate manner as he did in his letter to the Honorable H. F. Brook : 
"My conscience tells me I ought to vote for Mr. Adams. Mr. 
Crawford's health and the circumstances under which he presents 
himself to the House appears to me to be conclusive against him. 
As a friend to liberty and to the permanence of our institutions, I 
cannot consent in the early stage of their existence, by contributing 
to the election of a military chieftain, to give the strongest guaranty 
that the republic will march in the fatal road which has conducted 
every other republic." ^ This letter was a gratuitous insult not 
only to Jackson, but to every State that had supported him, and it 
aroused a bitterness of feeling toward Clay that never was wholly 
obliterated. It is not surprising that in the intense resentment 
which it inspired, he was thought quite capable of having bargained 
with Adams for the high office which the latter bestowed upon him 
as soon as he was elected. 

Hayne does not seem to have taken a very active part in the 
debates of this session, although on the matter of the suppression 
of piracy he did support Senator Barbour's proposal to blockade 
the ports of Cuba; but although the measure had the support of 
both of the senators from Massachusetts also, the amendment of 
Barbour's colleague, Tazewell, prevailed by a decided vote. Tow- 
ards the close of the session. Senator King of New York offered 
a resolution that Congress constitute and form a fund to aid the 
emancipation and removal of such slaves as by the law of the 
States respectively may be allowed to be emancipated and removed. 
For the purpose of this resolution, a portion of the public land was 
to be appropriated. Hayne promptly intervened with a resolution, 
declaring: "That Congress possesses no power to appropriate 

* City Gazette, Feb. 4, 1825. 



THE BRITISH PROTEST 185 

the public land of the United States, to constitute and form a fund 
to aid the emancipation of slaves within any of the United States 
or to aid the removal of such slaves, and that to constitute such a 
fund or to pledge the faith of the United States for the appropriation 
thereof towards these objects would be a departure from the con- 
ditions and spirit of the compact between the several States ; and 
that such measures would be dangerous to the safety of the States 
holding slaves and be calculated to disturb the peace and har- 
mony of the Union." 

There were reasons why Hayne should feel a little sensitive with 
regard to any movement or pronouncement on the part of Senator 
King concerning slavery ; for it may be remembered that the negro 
Jack Purcell had spoken of the speeches of a Mr. King in Congress 
as constituting some of the material used by Denmark Vesey to 
incite the negroes to insurrection; still, while the subject might 
well have been "of the most vital importance to those whom he had 
the honor to represent," in the light of his own letter to C. C. 
Pinckney, Jr., the use of the words, " unsolicited interference on 
the part of the Federal Government" in the discussion, was 
scarcely appropriate. In part explanation, it may be urged that 
at the close of the session feeling was running high, the tension 
extreme over the result of the election and the contributory causes, 
so much so, that when Adams submitted the names of his cabinet 
to the Senate for confirmation, both senators from the States of 
Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, as well as 
one each from New Jersey and Illinois, joined the other three 
senators from the extreme South, with whom Hayne aligned him- 
self, and voted against the confirmation of Clay/ 

* Ibid., March 16, 1825. 



CHAPTER V 

THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN CALHOUN AND SMITH FOR CONTROL OF 
THE STATE. HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE PANAMA MIS- 
SION 

The newly elected Vice-President of the United States was re- 
ceived with some enthusiasm upon his return to his native State 
at the adjournment of Congress. His elevation to the high office 
in the nation, which he filled with conspicuous ability and becoming 
dignity, had withdrawn him from the arena of active politics and 
lifted him to a position in which almost all of his fellow-citizens 
could take pleasure in contemplating a son of the State. Yet at 
the functions at which he was entertained, whether on the seaboard 
or in the mountainous region of Pendleton, the memory of Lowndes 
was still warm in the hearts of the people, and his name ever upon 
their lips in terms of the greatest affection and honor. In such 
a condition of the public mind. Governor Troup's agitation in 
Georgia against the general government made no headway in 
South Carolina. In the judgment of the City Gazette even, which 
was closest to the extreme State Rights faction led by Judge Smith, 
" the time had not yet arrived when argument had been exhausted." 
Yet it declared "the inflammatory proposition of Mr. King on the 
floor of Congress" was an "unhalloed and desperate attempt to 
excite the public mind upon a certain subject," ^ and despite its 
further declaration, that "the Union was no light consideration 
to those who value their glory and their interest," ^ the sentiment 

* City Gazette, June i, 1825. * Ihid., Aug. i, 1825. 

186 



I 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE PANAMA MISSION 187 

of the people of the State was changing. In this change the sec- 
tional injustice of the tariff law, more apparent with each year, 
was a great factor. The value of the export trade from the South- 
ern ports was being reduced ; while from the North it was with the 
exception of New England increasing. But the absurdity of the 
claim, that less importation would be necessary with the passage 
of the tariff act was disclosed by the Treasury figures of 1824. 
The importations at Charleston had shrunk in three years $842,312, 
just about what her export trade had risen; while Boston's com- 
merce had moved in exactly the opposite direction to about the 
same extent in the same period. But Philadelphia, the port of 
the manufacturers, had raised the value of her exports $1,330,612, 
and increased her imports $3,215,608. The value of the impor- 
tations, therefore, was not reduced ; the channel through which they 
entered was altered, that was all. And these facts were revealed 
to the public of South Carolina by an excellent press. The State 
had refused to support the exponent of extreme State Rights on 
account of her pride in the Union, and the great sons who had con- 
tributed so much to its power and might, she had not only failed 
to obtain the Presidency for Calhoun, but the defeat of Jackson 
had led to the elevation of Adams and Clay, the two candidates 
most opposed to her interests. In this condition of affairs several 
bright young politicians, one of whom was later to rise to great 
eminence, and all to figure as Unionists, seized upon the oppor- 
tunity, at this time offered, to cut their way to power through 
the advocacy of extreme State Rights. His very position made it 
difficult for Calhoun to exert all his influence in holding the State 
to his liberal views. Presiding in the Senate with firmness, ability 
and impartiality, Calhoun had raised Hayne to the chairmanship 
of the committee on Naval Affairs, and made him a member of that 
on Finance and of the one constituted to consider the abolishment 
of debt and the institution of a general bankrupt law. But while 



l88 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

he and Hayne were occupied with their respective duties, the Legis- 
lature of South CaroUna was warmly debating the resolutions of 
the previous session unacted upon, Judge Smith bringing up the 
Prioleau draft, with an amendment practically reproducing the 
senatorial expression of opinion on internal improvements. This 
amendment had the support of Hugh Swinton Legare, B. F. Hunt, 
Porter and Nixon, in addition to his own powerful advocacy. It 
was opposed by John Belton O'Neall, A. P. Butler, Caldwell, 
Taylor and Gregg.^ O'Neall's effort was said to have been 
animated and must have been a strong presentation of that side; 
but no copy seems to have been preserved. Legare's was that 
of an extremely talented and accomplished scholar. Butler's was 
a noteworthy specimen of eloquence, for more reasons than one. 
His declaration, that "for certain great National purposes the gov- 
ernment of the United States is a government operating on one 
common people, com.posing one entire Empire," is interesting, and 
while he fails to allude to Calhoun, he does eulogize his close friend 
and former political associate. He declared that "Mr. Lowndes 
was in favor of a system of Internal Improvement. He was a star 
of the first magnitude: distance could not destroy, time could 
not diminish its lustre. When such men as Mr. Lowndes, after 
mature deliberation and discussion, had come to such a conclusion, 
he would pause a long time before he would say it was wrong." 
By the House, the amendment was adopted by a two-thirds vote ; 
in the Senate, it barely passed 21 to 20, with a strong protest from 
State Senator Simkins, also a close friend of Calhoun. Then came 
the death of Senator Gaillard and the appointment of William 
Harper to the vacancy by Governor Manning. It does seem un- 
fortunate that this play of politics for position should have taken 
up so much of the time and attention of the Legislature; for it pre- 
vented that body from taking up as early as they otherwise almost 

* City Gazette, Dec. 19, 1825. 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE PANAMA MISSION 189 

certainly would have done the great question of railways. The 
historian Elson says: "The first steam locomotive was brought 
from England in 1829, where experiments in steam railways had 
been in progress for over ten years, but it proved a failure. In 
1 83 1, however, a locomotive was successfully used in South Caro- 
lina, and within a few years others were in operation in various 
parts of the country," ^ Mr. McMaster, with great ability, succeeds 
in avoiding this statement, while treating the subject very fully. 
The authority from which he draws most of his data summarizes 
the matter as follows : "The South Carolina Railroad was accord- 
ingly the first road in the world built expressly for locomotives, the 
pioneer in having the first locomotive for actual service in America 
built for their use; also the first to order a locomotive built in their 
midst and by one of their own native mechanics and citizens." ^ 
The name of this man should be remembered. He was E. L. 
Miller of Charleston, who in 1829 went to England to investigate 
the subject thoroughly, and, returning, offered to construct a loco- 
motive for the road, which the direction accepted.^ We have seen 
that the suggestion of operating a railway by steam was made by 
"H" in the fall of 182 1 ; but the following year opened the struggle 
between Calhoun and Smith for control of the State, and pretty 
well occupied attention for four years. While Judge Smith was 
preparing for his war on internal improvements, an even greater 
Carolinian, Stephen Elliott — a force in all industrial and educational 
movements in the State — was elected an honorary member of the 
Lmnasan Society at Paris; and a little earher, in the year of 1825, 
a correspondent of the City Gazette sarcastically remarks: "Al- 
though the railways have been so supremely spurned in all the 
calculations of our deeply read and highly experienced Internal 

* Elson, "History of the United States," Vol. 3, p. 94. 

^ Brown, "History of the First Locomotive in America," p. 151. 

» Rid., p. 139. 



190 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Improvements, it is presumed that the advocates for their adoption 
may now, after so long a silence, presume to allude to them." ^ 
But politics still held the stage at Columbia. In the United States 
Senate, Hayne had introduced a bill for the establishment of a 
naval academy, apparently at the suggestion or in accord with the 
idea of the administration ; but on the question of the expediency 
of sending ministers to the Congress of American Nations at 
Panama, he put himself promptly in opposition to the views of 
Adams and Clay. After a long fight the administration won by 
a vote of 24 to 19. 

Although the question of slavery did come up in the debate, the 
division was not exactly sectional, as at least four senators from 
the slave States voted to send and five from the Northern States 
not to send. Hayne opposed the measure earnestly and consist- 
ently from first to last on every vote. His speech in opposition 
to sending does riot reach the lofty height of his great effort against 
the tariff bill of 1824, but was marked, as has been previously 
shown his earliest effort at oratory was, by an accurate apprehen- 
sion of an idea many years later announced by a famous writer, 
and at that subsequent time hailed as strikingly original. On 
that occasion it was Lecky; in the Panama speech it was Bryce, 
In the first edition of " The American Commonwealth," Mr. Bryce, 
with fine rhetoric, pictures conditions in the United States as fol- 
lows, "Towering over Presidents and State Governors, over 
Congress and State Legislatures, over conventions and the vast 
machinery of party, public opinion stands out in the United States 
as the great source of power, the master of servants who tremble 
before it." The sonorous roll of these periods should not so cap- 
tivate the imagination as to prevent us from realizing that the 
thought is as thoroughly expressed, if less poetically, by Hayne, 
in his speech against the Panama mission, more than half a cen- 

* City Gazette, April 8, 1825. 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE PANAMA MISSION 191 

tury before. In the second of the three divisions into which he 
groups his objections, and where he might with advantage have 
contented himself with the preamble, he thus opens the discussion : 
"The United States were the first to set its face against the slave 
trade and the first to suppress it among their own citizens. We 
are entitled to the honor of having effectually accomplished this 
great object, not more by the force of our laws than by the om- 
nipotent power of public opinion — a power in this country para- 
mount to the laws themselves." ^ Proceeding with the discussion, 
he observes: "In all measures of this character, every portion of 
our fellow-citizens have cordially cooperated, and even in those 
States where slavery still exists, the people have gone heart and 
hand with their Government in every measure calculated to cut 
out this nefarious trade by the roots. Having done so much, we 
may well call upon other nations to 'go and do likewise,' before 
they can be permitted to taunt us on this subject as one of these ? 
South American ministers has done." But as Hayne took care 
to say that he apprehended no violation of the constitutional rights 
of the South, he could have well afforded to omit any declaration 
of what the Southern States would do if they were violated. And 
again it was a great mistake to take the ground, that to discuss 
slavery was to violate a right. That slavery was distinctly sanc- 
tioned by the Constitution, a perusal of the terms of that instru- 
ment cannot fail to disclose; but it had been discussed, and, as 
Sergeant knew, to his intense chagrin, established in Missouri by 
act of Congress; for he had incontrovertibly demonstrated this, 
if he had accomplished nothing else in the great debate on the 
Missouri question ; while to hang the foreign policy of the United 
States entirely upon the requirements of an institution prevailing 
in, at most, but half of the States of the Union, was to place that 

^ Hayne's Speech, De Saussure Pamphlets, No. 7, p. 20, Charleston Library 
Society. 



192 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



institution in too prominent a national position. There was 
strong ground for the claim that the regulations of the State of South 
Carolina, with regard to negroes entering her ports, was within 
her police power; but to claim that the United States must "pro- 
test against the Independence of Haiti," because "you find men 
of color at the head of" her "armies, in the legislative halls and 
executive departments," ^ was unreasonable. In other respects, 
the speech was a notable contribution to the thought of the day. 
Hayne's views on the Monroe Doctrine brought him into direct 
issue with Webster in the House ; but history has not yet developed 
with sufficient clearness what the doctruie is for us to judge who 
was right. On the proposition advanced by the President, that 
"the moral influence of the United States may perhaps be exerted 
with beneficial consequences" for "the advancement of religious 
liberty," he having suggested that, as "some of the Southern 
Nations have incorporated an exclusive church, the abandonment 
of this last badge of religious bigotry and oppression maybe pressed, 
etc.," Hayne was on firm ground in opposition and declared with 
powerful emphasis: "It is against the spirit of our Constitution 
to interfere in any way with the religion of our own People, I should 
conclude it must be altogether foreign to our policy to interfere 
with the religion of other nations. We both believe ourselves to 
be right, and I know of no power but that of the Almighty which 
can decide between us." Passing to the consideration, that the 
authorization of the mission would be a violation of neutrality, 
he sustained that contention with a strength of argument and 
felicity of illustration quite impressive. The openmg of the speech 
did, it is true, contain a sarcastic reference to what had been 
claimed, from a high quarter, the mission was designed to ac- 
complish, viz., " to present an imposing spectacle to the eyes of the 

1 Hayne's Speech, De Saussure Pamphlets, No. 7, p. 20, Charleston Library 
Society. 



HAYNE'S SPEECH AGAINST THE PANAMA MISSION 193 

world;" but in the main the speech was an appeal to the reason 
rather than the emotions of his hearers, and, without any attempt 
at a peroration, the simple conclusion was, "if this extraordinary 
mission must be sanctioned, I will wash my hands of it." 

From the closing discussion in the House between McDuffie 
of South Carolina and Trimble of Kentucky, it almost appeared 
as if Jackson and Adams had been lost sight of in the rivalry 
between Calhoun and Clay; for if Clay had formed a coalition 
with Adams, his defenders inquired, had not Calhoun effected 
the same with Jackson? Meanwhile, in the South Carolina 
Legislature, the vote to supply the vacancy made by the death 
of United States Senator Gaillard was very close, but resulted in 
the election of Judge Smith by 83, to 81 for D. E. Huger/ 
The Georgia papers were delighted at the election of a Craw- 
ford supporter, and the Augusta Constitutionalist declared that it 
was evidence of the fact that "Calhoun was not all powerful in 
the State of South Carolina." 

^ City Gazette, Dec. 4, 1826. 



CHAPTER VI 

A GLIMPSE OF SOCIETY AT THE FEDERAL CAPITAL AND AT CHARLES- 
TON IN THE TWENTIES. CHARITABLE, EDUCATIONAL, RELIG- 
IOUS AND INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS AT THE LATTER PLACE 

We may get a glimpse, if only a glimpse, of social conditions at 
the Federal capital and Charleston from some private letters of 
this period. An extract from one written to Charleston from Wash- 
ington, by a lady visiting the President's wife, throws some light 
on the time. The lady in question was a friend of Mrs. Adams^ 
and writes from the White House, January i8, 1826, to her friend, 
Charles Manigault of Charleston: "There is a great deal of 
company at home, a drawing room once a fortnight & a dinner 
once a week, generally of thirty-eight ladies and gentlemen; this 
is a pretty stupid business — all the members of congress & 
senators & their wives and daughters, if they have any, are in- 
vited & it often happens that neither the President nor Mrs. A, 
nor any of the family know the names of some of their company; 
for they just call and leave their cards and then they are put down 
on the list to be invited when their turn comes, poor souls I pity 
them as they enter these large apartments 81 see none but strangers 
surrounding them ; but Mrs. A's manners are very easy & affable, 
she soon contrives to find out whence they come and talk to them 
about their home & the Influenza & the weather, this never failing 
inexhaustible subject of conversation. Mr. & Mrs. Hayne and 
Colonel Drayton & the Websters had their dinner before I came 
here, but if the session should be a long one their turn will come 

194 



SOCIETY IN THE TWENTIES 195 

again & I shall be glad of it. The drawing rooms are very crowded, 
last Wednesday there were upwards of 400 people & they appear to 
come from all quarters of Uncle Sam's dommions & some queer- 
looking objects you may suppose amongst such a number, the 
company begins to assemble about ^ past 7 or 8 and at 10 it is all 
over & an amazing scene it is. They say here the City is uncom- 
monly dull this winter owing to the families of the heads of the 
departments being all in mourning except Mr. Rush, the secy of 
the treasury & he only gives gentlemen dinners, the poor ladies 
are left out. Mrs. Rush however promises them a dance. Mdme 
de Mareuil has begun her soirees, last Saturday was the first, 
they are to be every fortnight only but as they are regular dances 
much pleasure is anticipated at her house. Waltzing is quite the 
fashion here among the Americans as well as the foreigners, ten 
& twelve couples & often more set off at once & I am told that 
many of my countrywomen equal the most expert strangers in 
this graceful dance." * 

In a letter written by Mr. Henry W. Conner from Charleston 
to his mother and sister in North Carolina, on March 26, 1825, the 
description given of the entertainment to General Lafayette in that 
city imparts an idea of the dressing of the day and the wealth evi- 
denced thereby. He says: "The room was 180 to 200 feet long 
& on it ranged round on seats rising gradually one above the other 
were ranged 1800 ladies as richly & as tastefully dressed as the 
fancy or purse of each one would allow. Many of the dresses 
were most brilliant as well as costly ; steel seemed to triumph over 
gold, and silver was quite in the background. Some of the trap- 
pings of our Nabobs daughters must have cost 2 to $3000, or per- 
haps more. The dresses were all white & in some cases a thin 
netting of steel or gold or silver gauze was woven over a white 
muslin dress. The trimmings were either white, pink or blue. 

* Original in possession of Miss Ellen H. Jervey of Charleston, South Carolina. 



196 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Most of them wore something like spencers that fit close to the body 
of pink or white & all wore rich headdresses with a profusion of 
diamonds and jewels of all grades from the common paste up to 
the diamond of the ist water." ^ 

A letter of date August 21, 1826, from that old Revolutionary 
soldier, Alexander Garden, the author of Garden's "Anecdotes," 
affords interesting contrast with letters following in succeeding 
years, when temper was warm and sectionalism rife He declines 
an invitation from Mr, Manigault, giving as a reason that "Major 
James Hamilton, Senr., my former companion in arms in whose 
tent I passed during the War of the Revolution an entire winter 
and under whose command I was at the period when the retreat 
of the enemy put our country in possession of Charleston, has pro- 
posed to me, after the 4th of July, 1827, to sail to the North and 
wile away the Summer Months among friends of our more youthful 
days, indulging the recollection of all that we have seen & suffered 
together, and giving to declining life a review of the scenes the best 
calculated to increase its enjoyments." Then follows a description 
of some society, called the "Tertulia," of which he says, "this last 
was splendid indeed and tho neither Ella nor Meta shone as they 
were wont to do with superior lustre, there was the gentle Sally 
Alston, the Deas's, Pringles (married & single) , Miss Mary More 
Smith, who by the way pouted exceedingly because the unlucky 
dog Nimrod asserted that her eyes did scorch him like a burning 
glass, the sweet songstress Mrs. Porcher cum multis aliis who 
gave an eclat to the scene most truly fascinating." Major Garden 
adds to this the narrative of the relief of a pressed scholar, about to 
part with his library, for whom a present of $2500 was promptly 
subscribed, "with a request that not a volume should quit the shelf 
it was destined to occupy." The writer declares the contributions 
were so generous that he was enabled to avoid calling upon some, 

* Original in possession of Miss Mary Conner of Charleston, South Carolina. 



SOCIETY IN THE TWENTIES 197 

"who had forsaken prudence to embrace humanity," and he con- 
cludes, "Man is by no means as selfish an animal as cynics would 
insinuate & teach us to believe." Following this are two interest- 
ing incidents of the time. " One of the most ridiculous occurrences 
imaginable had occasioned a quarrel between two of our most 
spirited young men. Both were bent on hostility, and the whole 
Society regarded the shedding of blood as a necessary consequence. 
It was reported to the Senior Members of the Cincinnati, that two 
of their younger Brethren, under the influence of ungovernable 
rage, were to meet with the determination that one or the other 
should fall. They, without a moment's delay, formed themselves 
into a Court of Honor & having obtained the consent of the con- 
tending parties to examine into the cause of the difference and oc- 
currences arising therefrom, readily perceived that error and mis- 
conception had been the basis of the whole. To persist in the 
resolution to cut each other's throats therefore appeared absurd, 
and by temper and moderation they have at length succeeded in 
uniting in friendship men who, according to the principles of the 
institution, were bound to love and cherish each other through 
life as Brothers, I would not for worlds relinquish the pleasurable 
sensation I felt, when the father of one of the parties thanked me 
for the interest taken in preserving to him a son tenderly beloved. 
'And yet. Garden' (he broodingly said), *I know not whether I 
should not rather have seen my boy a corpse than to meet him 
entering my doors after having embued his hands in the blood of 
a fellow-creature.'" In the second incident, the letter narrates, 
we can supply the conclusion which the writer at the time was 
ignorant of. "Another affair of Honor greatly agitates the Pub- 
lic Mind. Pettigrew (Petigru) and Colonel B. F. Hunt. Both 
are now bound over, but, tho delayed, a fight must follow the 
language used. That block-head Moser deserves to be gibbetted 
for his nonsensical law against Duelling, as he now obliges men to 



198 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

go abroad to settle, at the risk of life from climate, what might be 
with far greater convenience done at home. When fighting can not 
be avoided, it is far better to settle the business without delay or the 
inconveniences of journeying." ^ As delay, however, stopped this 
duel, saved the life of one or the lives of both, possibly, of the dis- 
tinguished combatants, Dr. Moser's duelling law worked most ! 
effectively. Indeed, there could hardly be cited a better illustra- 
tion of its value; for Petigru and Hunt not only did not fight, but d| 
became good friends. But the champion of Free Schools, the legis- 
lator responsible for the duelling law and that of capital punish- | 
ment for negro murder, belonged to an earlier and more demo- 
cratic day. The flood of slaves which had poured in had altered 
the industrial condition and was destined to continue to. Numbers 
of the yeomanry of the State had departed for the new lands opened 
up to the West and Southwest, and even the artisans were feeling 
the competition which General Thomas Pinckney had written of. 
The amount of capital invested in slaves about this time, or shortly 
after, must have been nearly, if not quite, $60,000,000 ^ in South 
Carolina alone. By them was cultivated an annually increasing 
cotton crop; but through the operation of the tariff laws, while 
the cost of their maintenance (and the injury of the soil from the 
wasteful style of agriculture their great numbers encouraged) fell 
upon the South, the manufacturers of the North reaped their share 
of the profit. Yet it was a society still strong enough to produce 
men of great diversity of talent. The accomplished Stephen Elliott 
has been alluded to, but there were others. Dr. Holbrook^ and 

* Original in possession of Miss Ellen H. Jervey of Charleston, South Carolina. 

='W. B. Seabrook, "View of the Colored Population," Vol. 16, Ser. 2, p. 28. | 

Pamphlets, Charleston Library Society (No. 5). The value of slaves in South, ^ 

$300,000,000, South Carolina having one-fifth of total. 

^ From remarks of Louis Agassiz at meeting of the Natural History Society of 
Boston in the year of Holbrook's death, 1871: "I well remember the impression I 

made in Europe more than five and thirty years ago by his work on the North 



SOCIETY IN THE TWENTIES 199 

John Bachman, working along lines similar to those of the great 
Audubon, had produced work entitling them to consideration, and, 
in the person of Robert Mills, the State had a son who as the 
designer of the Washington and Bunker Hill monuments and 
the Schuylkill bridge (the arch of which was said to have had the 
greatest span of that day),^ was an architect of distinction. Wash- 
ington Allston's reputation as a painter was established ; but White 
was not without merit, and Charles Fraser seems to have been more 
than a miniature artist; for in 1816 his drawings were published 
by plates. A little later Major Garden, in one of his letters, will 
tell of his own development as an author. At all events, it must 
have been an attractive society to move in. Robert Mills, in his 
statistics of the State, published about this time, gives an inter- 
esting account of the city and State. From this work we find that 
there were in existence at Charleston at this time, 3 Bible societies 
and 3 Tract societies, 5 Mission societies, employing 17 mission- 
aries, II Sunday-schools with 126 1 pupils, a great number of be- 
nevolent and charitable organizations, an orphan house endowed, 
but supported by the city corporation in addition, where at an 
annual expenditure of $14,003.61 from 180 to 200 destitute children 
were cared for and educated, 4 Free Schools established under 
legislative patronage, with salaries of $1200 allowed each teacher, 
and 4 established Library societies, to wit : the Charleston Library 
Society, established in 1743, and comprising in spite of the destruc- 
tion of the greatest part of its collection in 1778 between 13 and 
14,000 volumes, besides a number of fine engravings, etc.; the 
Franklin and Ramsay societies, composed chiefly of young men, 

American Reptiles. ... In that branch of investigation Europe had at that time 
nothing which could compare with it." Memoir of John Edwards Holbrook, 
page II, Charleston Library Society. Holbrook, John Edwards: "North Ameri- 
can Herpetology; or a Description of the Reptiles inhabiting the United States." 
Phila., 1836, in — 4. fig. Brunet's Manuel du libraire, v. 5, Paris, 1844. 
' Mill, "Statistics of South Carolina," p. 467. 



200 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

founded but a few years previous; and the Apprentices Library 
founded in 1824 and possessing 3000 volumes. There were four 
daily papers printed in the city, — the City Gazette, the Courier, the 
Southern Patriot and the Charleston Mercury; three weekly jour- 
nals, — the Southern Intelligencer, Catholic Miscellany and Wesleyan 
Journal ; and two monthly, — the Gospel Messenger, an Episcopal 
work, and the Medical Journal. In addition to this the author 
declares that every public house had a reading room where papers 
from different parts of the Union were received, and private estab- 
lishments, the most extensive of which was Walker's, where all 
styles of periodical productions, particularly those relating to Eng- 
lish literature, were found in attractive variety. The Episcopalians 
had 4 places of worship, the Presbyterians 3, the Methodists 4, 
the Roman Catholics 2, the Baptists, the Congregationalists, the 
Quakers, the French Protestants, the German Protestants, the 
Unitarians and the Jews, i each. Of the interior of St. Philip's 
Church, completed early in 1700, which he describes, he says it 
"exhibits more of design in its arrangements than any other of 
our ancient buildings ... in its whole length, presents an ele- 
vation of a lofty double arcade supporting upon an entablature 
a vaulted ceiling in the middle. The piers are ornamented with 
fluted Corinthian pilasters rising to the top of the arches, the 
keystones of these arches are sculptured with cherubim in relief; 
over the centre arch on the south side are some figures in heraldic 
form, representing the infant colony imploring the protection of 
the king. . . . The pillars are now ornamented on their face with 
beautiful pieces of monumental sculpture, some of them with bas- 
reliefs and some with full figures finely executed by the first artists 
in England and this country." The organ, he tells us, " is an ancient 
piece of furniture imported from England, and which had been 
used at the coronation of George the Second." * According to 

* Mill, " Statistics of South Carolina," p. 405. 



SOCIETY IN THE TWENTIES 20I 

the same authority, the Baptist Church on Church Street below 
Tradd, still in existence, "exhibits the best specimen of correct 
taste in architecture of the modern buildings in this city." The 
theatre, without any architectural display outwardly, with regard 
to its interior, was arranged with taste and "richly decorated." 
Mr. Mills estimated that there were from 1200 to 1500 mechanics7~j 
black and white, in the city, and as the wage of the latter was a third 
more, or double that of the former, the tendency must have been 
to cut down the work of that estimable class of citizens, the white 
mechanics. What proportion of these mechanics were black, and 
of these what proportion slaves, would not be easily arrived at. 
From the tax returns some 13 years later, there were between 
75 to 100 free colored mechanics and about 450 slave mechanics. | 
At this time, 1826, there were probably not as many. In addition J 
to the shipping, which in 1824 was 88,125 tons, 10 steamboats 
plied between the city and Savannah and Augusta, Cheraw, 
Georgetown and Columbia, and as with that of the suburbs the 
population was over 37,000, the place was the metropolis of the 
South Atlantic coast. 



CHAPTER VII 

hayne's remarkable speech against the colonization 

SOCIETY 

In December, 1826, Judge Smith returned to the United States 
Senate. The youthful rival, who in 1822 had wrested the seat from 
him, had now been in the body three years and certainly, in that 
time, had acquired distinct influence. Despite the fact that Virginia 
was represented by Randolph and Tazewell, it was Hayne who 
was selected to present to the Senate the petition with regard to the 
relief of the daughter of Thomas Jefferson. There were various 
discussions in which Smith took part; but in February, 1827, 
a memorial was presented by the Colonization Society, which both 
he and his colleague opposed, and by their efforts, to a certain ex- 
tent, their respective abilities were displayed. There is nothing 
to be said concerning that of Smith, for it was not an utterance to 
attract attention or provoke any particular thought; but the two 
speeches made by Hayne were distinctly extraordinary, and one 
contained probably the most remarkable expression of opinion 
ever announced by him. The first of these speeches is replete with 
delicate satire, which without an unpleasant word or phrase plays 
lightly upon the subject of the memorial, revealing so clearly the 
incongruities and absurdities that the introducer of the paper 
complained that "the whole affair had been placed in the most 
glowing colors by the gentleman's fancy and his wit." This was 
a fair description of the first speech; for Hayne had accentuated 
every fact which told against the Society, and there were a good 

202 



SPEECH AGAINST THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY 203 

many, with regard to which the mere telling was sufficient. He 
declared he possessed, and he submitted, "the evidence that the 
agents of the Colonization Society, on the coast of Africa, instead 
of being employed in peaceful pursuits, are engaged in warlike 
enterprises; that the colony had been organized into military 
Corps; and that under their gallant leader, the Reverend Dr. 
Ashmun, they have made war upon the Spaniards and the French, 
as well as on the natives; that they have with force and arms 
invaded and broken up several establishments; have made nu- 
merous captives, and in short are proceeding, as all such colonies 
will proceed, with a high hand to extend their influence and power 
*by the sword.'" The letters of this representative of the church 
militant certainly bore out Hayne's statements; while such un- 
happy allusions as "our bloody conflicts with the natives," etc., 
were used by him with telling effect. These quotations were 
interspersed with a running fire of good-humored raillery. "The 
prisoners taken and put to labor under 'superintendents' (or as 
we should call them overseers) are doubtless found to be very con- 
venient 'helps' in a colony so much in want of physical strength 
and productive 'labor.' No doubt," he continues, "they are 
treated as kindly as such 'a rude and ignorant people' ought to 
be; but so little gratitude do they evince to their 'deliverers' that 
they are only prevented from 'effecting their escape' by the 'con- 
stant guardianship' of their 'superintendents.'" 

By the proceedings of the Colonization Society, Hayne then 
showed that it had approved, while the Federal government, 
whose agent he also was, had formally disapproved, of much re- 
ported by Dr. Ashmun. With a parting shot at "the nice dis- 
tinction, which adopts for the government all the lawful acts of 
Dr. Ashmun, and throws all the rest on the Colonization Society," 
Hayne expressed his hope, on account of the lateness of the hour, 
that the petition would be laid upon the table, and that he would 



204 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

make such a motion as soon as gentlemen who may desire to ex- 
plain their views have done so. Objections were made by several 
senators, and Senator Smith, after speaking against the petition, 
moved that it be laid upon the table. But the Chair ruled that it 
could not be acted upon unless signed or the handwriting averred, 
and so it was withdrawn. Two days later Senator Ezekiel Cham- 
bers, of Maryland, who had introduced it, presented it again, signed 
by "the distinguished individual who presided over the society," 
and, so presenting, proceeded to make an almost pathetic defence 
of it. He complained that Senator Hayne had denounced the plans 
of the Society as "visionary and chimerical"; while he (Mr. C.) 
"indulged the hope that the exalted character and distinguished 
intelligence of the individuals who had been connected with the 
Society would have restrained the gentleman from this sweeping 
denunciation. If that could not rescue the Society from the 
reproach of the senator from South Carolina, he reminded him 
of the countenance it had received from nine or ten States of this 
Union; and if nothing would avert the determined purpose of the 
senator from South Carolina, he announced that he was him- 
self to be ranked among those fascinated by the 'chimera.'" 
Declaring that it was not the time or the occasion to go into the 
merits of these transactions, the senator thought "the plain narra- 
tive would not place the conduct of Dr. Ashmun in a view so cen- 
surable or so ridiculous as it had been represented," and he ac- 
cordingly entered upon what was pretty much a repetition of what 
Hayne had stated ; and after admitting that the danger had been 
magnified and the means of prevention not fully justified, and the 
proceedings in some cases not absolutely necessary, he claimed 
he had presented "the history of the facts" ; which, he complained, 
" with the decorations contributed by the fancy and wit of the gentle- 
man, have been held up to the Senate as a spectacle fit not only to 
be gravely censured, but to be ridiculed." 



SPEECH AGAINST THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY 



205 



In the course of his remarks, Senator Ezekiel Chambers took 
occasion to describe the free colored people, as he judged them 
to be in the slave States, evidently from those he had seen around 
him. In no State in the Union were they as numerous as in 
Maryland, where, according to the census of 1830, there were 
52,923, or more than one-ninth of the population. Why he speaks 
of "your" society, "your" country, "your" free blacks, when he 
was so thoroughly entitled to use the first person plural, is difficult 
to understand unless he was an adopted citizen of the State. The 
following, however, are in part the terms in which he draws his 
indictment against a whole people: "That part of the population 
of the States which it was the object of the Society to remove was 
a degraded, miserable race of beings. . . . They are not only the 
drones and moths of your society, who occupy the place and exclude 
the presence of a laboring, hardy, useful and moral class of white 
men, actuated by a common attachment and devotion to your 
country, its Constitution and its laws . . . but your free blacks 
exert the most deleterious influence on every class and almost 
every individual in society. . . . You are advised by intelligent 
and discreet men, whose lives have been devoted to the considera- 
tion of this subject, that the plan now proposed will probably 
remove, certainly lessen, these evils. ... If authority be required 
to sanction such opinions, you have it in the deliberate and formal 
decisions of the Legislatures of a large portion of the States of the 
Union — States in which slavery is allowed and States in which 
slavery is not allowed." In conclusion, he asked, " Was the Senate 
prepared to unite with the senator from South Carolina in denounc- 
ing a system thus recommended to their consideration?" ^ 

Hayne was not particularly occupied with Chambers; but he 
had been very intent upon flushing greater game, and this he felt 
he had accomplished. In his reply he charged that the fine parlia- 

' Abridgment of Debates of Congress, Vol. 9, pp. 303 et seq. 



2o6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

mentary hand of " a gentleman high in office (Mr. Clay) " had been 
detected by him in a resolution, which he quoted, and upon the 
adoption of which he asserted he had become "satisfied that this 
subject would at length come before Congress, not for a final de- 
cision, but in such a form as to obtain if possible a victory without a 
battle." Then after declaring that " as to the persons who compose 
the Society," there were many for whom he "entertained the most 
unfeigned respect," with some humor he divided them into different 
classes, and it was pretty evident in which class he considered Clay, 
although no name was mentioned. Then he took up the plans of 
the Society and, subjecting them to a searching criticism, revealed 
their inadequacy. He ridiculed the "danger from less than two 
millions of ignorant and unarmed people scattered over an immense 
region and without the means of concert or cooperation in a popu- 
lation of twelve millions of brave, intelligent freemen." Then he 
touched upon a point which must have been pretty generally felt. 
"Sir," he said, "a mistake has gone abroad on this subject, which 
must be corrected ... an opinion prevails in some portions of 
the Union that the Southern States are dependent upon them; 
that they cannot maintain their existence without the protection 
of their Northern brethren; and hence it is, Sir, that very litde 
scruple is felt in imposing burdens (by tariffs and other impositions) 
on those who are supposed to be 'in mercy.' Sir, let me assure 
our Northern brethren that this is altogether a delusion. We feel 
ourselves perfectly adequate to our own protection, and we feel 
no apprehensions whatever except from their unauthorized and 
dangerous intermeddling with our institutions. But if the danger 
was such as the Colonization Society suppose, what are we to say 
to the remedy ? " Then citing the figures, he shows the extrava- 
gance of the claim that 6000 blacks could be transported to Africa 
at a cost of only $20 a piece, when official documents indicated 
that the thirty so far transported had cost the government $69,767.57, 



SPEECH AGAINST THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY 207 

and that by no possibility could the cost be reduced below that of 
$500 a head ; while even if it was admitted that it might be done at 
one-fifth that expenditure, nothing short of 60,000 despatched per 
annum could accomplish the objects of the Society, and that would 
cost at least $6,000,000 per annum. In considering this portion 
of Hayne's argument, we must, of course, remember the condition 
of the Union at that time, when these figures meant infinitely more 
than they do to-day. Leaving the consideration of figures, he 
proceeds then directly to the most remarkable part of his speech : 
"Sir, this whole subject is grossly misunderstood and egregiously 
misrepresented. The progress of time and events is providing an 
effectual remedy for the evil, concerning which some gentlemen are 
so sensitive. In this very speech (that of Senator Chambers evi- 
dently), facts are stated that ought to quiet forever the minds of the 
most philanthropic on this subject — facts drawn from official 
documents, which show conclusively that the relative increase for 
many years past has been decidedly in favor of the free white popu- 
lation, and that the relative proportion of the colored population 
whether free or slave is certainly diminishing almost in arithmetical 
proportion." Then after submitting statistics in support of this 
claim, he continues: "Thus, Sir, it appears that the Almighty, in 
the wise order of his providence, has marked out the course of events 
which will not only remove all danger, but gradually and efifectually, 
* and in his own good time, ' accomplish our deliverance from what 
gentlemen are pleased to consider as ' the curse of the land.' The 
European population is now increasing at the rate of 4 per cent, 
that of the African race at from 2 to 3 per cent (and their rate of 
increase constantly diminishing). The former will be doubled in 
about twenty-five years, the latter will not probably be doubled 
in less than fifty years. While this process is going on the colored 
classes are gradually diffusing themselves throughout the coimtry 
and are making steady advances in intelligence and refinement, 



2o8 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

and if half the zeal were displayed in bettering their condition that 
is now wasted in the vain and fruitless effort of sending them abroad, 
their intellectual and moral improvement would be steady and 
rapid. The history of this country has proved that when the rela- 
tive proportion of the colored population to the white is greatly 
diminished, slaves cease to be valuable and emancipation follows 
of course, and they are swallowed up in the common mass. Wher- 
ever free labor is put in full and successful operation, slave labor 
ceases to be profitable. It is true, that it is a very gradual opera- 
tion and that it must be, to be successful or desirable. Time and 
patience, therefore, are only wanting to effect the great object 
which gentlemen profess to have in view, and to effect it safely, 
prudently and in the only mode in which it can be done, without 
the inevitable ruin of all parties concerned. And yet gentlemen, 
in their intemperate zeal in what is miscalled the cause of justice 
and humanity are attempting to anticipate events, and insist on 
reaping the fruit at once, not only before the harvest is ripe, but 
before they have taken the pains to till the ground or to sow the 
seed." Then with a prescience shared with none of his contem- 
poraries, he concludes, "It is true. Sir, that much has already 
been done to create difficulties, and our only apprehension arises 
from a belief that a reckless perseverance in the course which has 
been for some time pursued (ostensibly for our benefit, but in 
truth to our injury) may lead to scenes over which humanity must 
weep." 

At the conclusion of this remarkable utterance, the petition, after 
a few words from Benton on the same side, was laid on the table. 
When Chambers spoke of the free blacks as "a degraded and 
miserable race of beings," he spoke of those he saw above Virginia, 
of those whose condition seemed to accord with those of Massachu- 
setts, as indicated by the report of her legislative committee ; but 
when Hayne spoke of them as rising in refinement and intelligence, 



SPEECH AGAINST THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY 209 

gradually it is true, but surely, he was borne out by such evidence 
as was afforded by the Brown Fellowship Society of his own city 
and the general run of house slaves to be met with in the South. 
We see that he believed in diffusion as the solution, a slow one 
but a sure and safe one. Nor were his estimates much out of the 
way; for taking from 1820 to between 1840 and 1850, the twenty- 
five years in which Hayne said the European population would 
double, we find it did; and if the African race doubled in forty, 
while he thought it would "not probably be doubled in less than 
fifty years," the antagonization of Northern and Southern sentiment, 
which became acute in five years from the time of this speech and 
finally cleft the Union in twain, had not a little to do in effecting 
the increase. Smith and Hayne had been on the same side on the 
above ; but that they should at times be at variance was not sur- 
prising, and when Hayne a little later in the session, as chairman 
of the committee on Naval Affairs, brought in a bill for the gradual 
increase of the navy, and supported it in a speech for which he was 
highly complimented by Senators Smith of Maryland and Robbins 
of Rhode Island, Senator Smith of South Carolina felt himself 
obliged to oppose it. The attitude taken, however, by the two 
gentlemen from South Carolina, in their difference, was creditable 
to them both, although it proved not reconcilable, and after obtain- 
ing some support from Chandler of Maine and Johnson of Ken- 
tucky, Senator Smith launched a determined attack upon the 
provisions of the bill which provided for a naval academy. Un- 
fortunately for him, however, assuming, not unnaturally, that as 
Senator Harrison had risen to be a general, without special military 
training, he would scarcely be in favor of such, he appealed to him 
in a flattering strain. But the caustic reply which he drew from 
that gentleman indicated that Harrison had a mind and temper 
of his own. In a short speech full of pith, Harrison refused to 
swallow the bait, and modestly alluding to his own deficiencies as 



2IO ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

additional arguments in favor of the bill, wound up with the 
declaration that he considered the section which provided for a 
naval academy one of its most valuable features and hoped it 
would meet the sanction of the Senate/ It passed the Senate, but 
when struck out in the House, on its return to the Senate, Van Buren, 
who had previously voted for it, changed his vote and, as amended 
by the House, it was concurred in by a vote of 22 to 21.^ For his 
equally unsuccessful efforts with regard to the bill for an uniform 
system of bankruptcy, Hayne was highly complimented by the 
City Gazette, at that time an Adams paper, which spoke of the bill 
as "introduced in the Senate by Mr. Hayne, a very able and dis- 
tinguished leader of the opposition, and by Mr, Webster, the cham- 
pion of the administration in the House." ^ The same paper 
criticised with some asperity the toasts to Hayne, Van Buren and 
Cambreling at a dinner given in Charleston, at which they all 
attended and were somewhat extravagantly lauded. Calhoun, 
meanwhile, had been cleared ^ by the investigation which he had 
demanded and pending which he had declined to preside over the 
deliberations of the Senate ; but now he was definitely committed 
to absolute opposition to the efforts of the tariff men, who were 
preparing for another move at the next session, the one which would 
bring the country again to a Presidential year. 

* Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, Vol. 9, pp. 337-342. 

^ City Gazette, March 12, 1827. ^ Ibid., Jan. 29, 1827. 

* Ibid., Feb. 20, 1827, 



CHAPTER VIII 

CALHOUN FORESEES TROUBLE. WEBSTER ENTERS THE SENATE. 
BOSTON CONFIDES HER MEMORIAL AGAINST HIGHER DUTIES 
TO HAYNE. THE CHARLESTON-HAMBURG RAILROAD BEGUN. 

"the damned tariff and our friend J. Q." 

Between the close of the session of 1826-27 and the convening 
of that of 1827-28, under date of August 26, 1827, Calhoun wrote a 
letter to his most intimate confidant, in which he revealed his im- 
pressions of political conditions as they had taken shape in his 
mind, from the latter part of 1826 or the beginning of 1827. This 
letter is a most important contribution to our political history, 
for it discloses very thoroughly the reasons which induced Cal- 
houn to abandon his broad and liberal interpretation of the Consti- 
tution, and that this change anticipated his breach with Jackson 
by fully four years. The letter is to James Edward Calhoun, and is 
in part as follows: "The political world has assumed a very bois- 
terous appearance, which at the approaching session will probably 
work up into a storm. I never have seen such abundant elements 
of discord, much greater part of which springs by an almost nec- 
essary consequence out of the late Presidential election. There 
is a deep and settled conviction on the part of a large portion of the 
community, not only that Mr. Adams came in against the public 
voice, but that it was effected by a corrupt understanding with Mr. 
Clay. This impression so weakens the administration that to 
sustain themselves the most dangerous and corrupt means have 
been resorted to, as is generally thought. The employment of such 



211 



212 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

has in turn greatly inflamed the public mind, already deeply agi- 
tated by the circumstances attending the election. Among the 
means resorted to there is one in particular that, in my opinion, 
threatens danger to the Union — I mean that of arraying the great 
geographical interests of the Union against one another. The 
wisest men of the country have divided in opinion how far Congress 
has the power, and admitting they possess it, how far, on principle, 
encouragement may be given to domestic manufactures as con- 
nected with the great consideration of the defence and independence 
of the country. But whatever may be the diversity of opinion 
among the wise and patriotic, as to the discreet exercise of this 
great power of changing the capital and industry of the country, 
there cannot among such be any doubt that the power itself is highly 
dangerous, and may be perverted to purposes most unjust and oppres- 
sive. Through such an exercise of it one section of the country 
may really be made tributary to another, and by this partial action, 
artful and corrupt politicians may use nearly half of the wealth 
of the country to buy up partisans in order to acquire or retain 
power. This very use of it, many and they highly intelligent, 
below the heads of the administration, are attempting to employ. 
About a year ago a great excitement was got up in Boston by the 
capitalists, with a view professedly to give an increased duty on 
Woollens for their protection. A bill was reported to the House of 
Representatives, amounting in fact to a prohibition, and after 
much heat passed that body. It came to the Senate, where 
it was laid on the table by my casting vote. Since the adjournment 
an extensive scheme, originating, as it is thought, with those in 
power, has been got up, to have a general convention of the manu- 
facturing interests at Harrisburg, avowedly to devise measures for 
the passage of this bill, and thus the dangerous example is set of 
separate representation and association of great geographical inter- 
ests to promote their prosperity, at the expense of other interests 



CALHOUN FORESEES TROUBLE 213 

unrepresented and fixed in another section, which of all measures 
that can be conceived is calculated to give the greatest opportunity 
to art and corruption, and make two of one nation. How far 
the administration is involved in this profligate scheme, time will 
determine; but if they be, the curse of posterity will be on their 
head. In the mean time the South has commenced with remon- 
strating against this unjust and oppressive attempt to sacrifice 
their interest ; and I do trust they will not be provoked to step be- 
yond strict constitutional remedies. I have given a fuller view on 
this point, as I am of the impression that from it great events 
will spring. It must lead to defeat or oppression or resistance, 
or the correction of what perhaps is a great defect in our system : 
that the separate geographical interests are not sufficiently guarded. 
This for yourself." ' 

Despite the insinuations directed against Adams and Clay, which 
the close intimacy which had existed between them and Calhoun 
should have protected them against, this is the letter of a great 
and far-seeing statesman. It was not very long after this that he 
alluded in a letter to Monroe to the " very decided part " he " had 
taken" in the Presidential struggle in 1816 in favor of Monroe 
against Crawford; and his services to the country in so doing were 
not small; for if Calhoun had not blocked Crawford in 1816, it is 
not at all improbable, but extremely probable, that with the check- 
ing of the centripetal force of consolidation there would have 
arisen an accelerated centrifugal force, even more dangerous to the 
Federal Republic. Indeed, the ideal policy for the period would 
seem to have been, internal improvements, to facilitate inter- 
course between the sections, with munitions of war and the articles 
necessary to national defence, provided at home, no matter at 
what expense, and all duties on other articles imposed for revenue 
alone. This may be stated as the position of both Hayne and 

1 " Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 249-251. 



214 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Calhoun, and that Hayne's position was well known is illustrated 
by an incident which occurred at the opening of the session of 
1827-28. The two senators, by whom Massachusetts had been rep- 
resented in the United States Senate, had given place to Nathaniel 
Silsbee and Daniel Webster. The former had served one session, 
the latter was just entering. Silsbee was against higher duties; 
Webster wavering, but about to change his views. The merchants 
of Boston, however, had not changed theirs, and they desired them 
to be presented to the Senate. It is significant of the impression 
which Hayne had produced on the country at large by his opposition 
to the tariff that, represented by Daniel Webster and Silsbee, as 
the State of Massachusetts was, yet her chief city chose Hayne 
as her mouthpiece, and committed to him her memorial to Con- 
gress in the following letter : — 

"Boston, Dec. 12, 1827. 
" Sir : The committee of the citizens of Boston and the vicinity 
opposed to an increase of duties on imports have the honor here- 
with to forward to your care a memorial on this important subject, 
of which they request an early presentation to the Senate, and such 
an advocation of its principles as to you shall seem called for by the 
arguments contained, as applied to the interests of the whole na- 
tion. There are. Sir, among the names of the memorialists those 
of many of our most enlightened, learned, disinterested citizens; 
and not a few of the most intelligent, judicious and reflecting of 
our manufacturers both of cotton and woollens. The committee 
have the most entire conviction that the best interests of the country 
are involved in this question and will be promoted by the abandon- 
ment of any further prosecution of this system of high duties. 
The Committee have the honor to be. Sir, 

"With great respect 

"Your very humble servants 

Nath. Goddard. 

Lemuel Shaw. 



CALHOUN FORESEES TROUBLE 215 

Isaac Winslow. 
William Goddard. 
Enoch Silsby. 
Thos. W. Ward. 
Edward Cruft. 
Lot Wheelwright. 
Henry Lee. 
R. D. Shipherd. 
Samuel Swett. 
William Foster. 
Daniel P. Parker. 
Joseph Baker. 
Samuel C. Gray. 

" Committee. 



•' The Hon. Robert Y. Hayne, 
"Washington." ' 

It is possible, and quite probable, that Hayne was personally 
known to some of the gentlemen whose names appeared on the 
above-named committee. The last named, Samuel C. Grayj^* was 
a close relative, a nephew of the Honorable William Gray, one of 
Boston's greatest merchants, on whose wharf there had been erected 
the patent railway to which " H" had called attention, and on which 
there had been based the suggestion, in 182 1, of the feasibility of 
operating a railroad between Charleston and Augusta, with a fork to 
Columbia, by means of steam power. The Honorable William Gray 
had died November 4, 1825, as appeared by notice in the Charleston 
papers soon thereafter; but personal knowledge of some of the 
committee would not have been sufficient. The committing the 
memorial to Hayne was a distinct recognition of the force he 
wielded in the Senate, his national reputation. The memorial 

1 Pamphlets, De Saussure Collection, No. 7, p. 6, Charleston Library Society. 
* Letter of John Chipman Gray of Boston, Aug. 17, 1907. 



2l6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

is a strong presentation, more of a protest than an extended 
argument. It was marked by breadth and patriotism. One 
clause certainly deserves reproduction, it is such a clear, succinct 
statement of the whole matter. "If the Act of 1816 be regarded 
in the nature of a compromise, its obligations were reciprocal ; if 
the nation were bound to continue the protection then offered, the 
manufacturers were equally bound to conform to the system then 
established. Yet within a very short period that provision of the 
law was repealed by which the duty was to fall to 20 per cent, 
and in 1824 it was further raised to a rate nominally exceeding 
^^ per cent, making, in fact, 38 per cent, and Congress is again 
called upon for a very great advance." 

While the business men of Boston were preparing their protest 
against any further increase of duties, the business men of Charles- 
ton gathered together for that determined effort which did not 
again cease until the railroad, from their city, was an accomplished 
fact. In the City Gazette of December 7, 1827, there appeared 
the following report of that important meeting : " By a call of the 
City Council, a public meeting of the citizens of the Parishes of St. 
Philip and St. Michael was held at the City Hall in the city at one 
o'clock yesterday, when on motion of James L, Petigru, Esq., His 
Honor the Intendant was called to the Chair and Edwin P. Starr 
appointed Secretary. The Chairman in his address explained 
the objects of the meeting. On motion of James L. Petigru, Esq., 
seconded by Colonel Cross, it was unanimously resolved : That a 
committee of twelve citizens be appointed to draft a memorial to our 
State Legislature, praying that a survey of the country between the 
Savannah and Ashley rivers may be made with a view to a canal 
that will connect them and also a survey of the country between 
Augusta and Charleston with a view to a railroad, and that meas- 
ures be adopted to procure as early as possible all information, esti- 
mates of expense &c. touching this important subject. On motion 



CALHOUN FORESEES TROUBLE 217 

of Colonel Hunt it was resolved that the committee to be appointed 
do forthwith report to the meeting. It was resolved that the chair- 
man of the meeting do appoint the committee, when the following 
gentlemen were so appointed, viz., James L. Petigru, Esq., Colonel 
George W. Cross, Colonel B. F. Hunt, John Robinson, Charles Ed- 
monston, Ker Boyce, Robert Martin, William Washington, Thomas 
Fleming, Thomas Napier, James Jervey, & J. N. Cardozo, Esqs. All 
the gentlemen being present they retired ; and after about half an 
hour's absence returned and Colonel Hunt read the memorial, which 
was unanimously accepted by the meeting." ^ Thememorial referred 
to the depressed condition of the commerce of Charleston ; showed 
how the city was calculated to be the commercial emporium of the 
large and productive region to the south and west, as far as the 
mountains, and even beyond, on account of the city's vicinity to the 
, sea, and the facility of getting to sea in a few hours, etc., and ex- 
pressed the belief that if a survey was made, the money for building 
could be raised. Within two weeks the charter was granted by the 
Legislature; but not being full enough was amended by an act 
passed January 30, 1828, in which the commissioners empowered 
to open books of subscription at Columbia, Camden, Hamburg and 
Charleston were named: William Law, David Ewart, James 
Boatwright, Thomas Lang, James S. Murray, Charles J. Shannon, 
Christian Brighthaupt, Paul Fitzsimons, Samuel L. Watt, Timothy 
Ford, Stephen Elliott and Rene Godard.^ In the meantime the 
State, through the resolutions submitted by the special committee, 
consisting of Messrs. John Ramsay, S. D. Miller, H. Deas, Alfred 
Huger, D. R. Evans, W. B. Seabrook and Catlet Connor, had taken 
the position : " That the Constitution of the United States is a com- 
pact between the people of the different States with each other, as 
separate and independent sovereignties, and that for any violation 

* City Gazette, Dec. 7, 1827. 

^ Statutes at Large, So. Ca., Vol. 8, pp. 354-355- 



2l8 ROBERT Y. HAYNE '| 

of the letter or spirit of that compact by the Congress of the United 
States, it is not only the right of the people, but of the Legislatures, 
who represent them, to every extent not limited, to remonstrate 
against violations of the fundamental compact. 2. That the acts 
of Congress passed in 1816, 1820 and 1824, known by the name 
of tariff laws by which manufactures are encouraged under the 
power to lay imposts, are violations of the Constitution in its spirit 
and ought to be repealed. 3. That Congress has no power to 
construct roads and canals in the States with or without the assent 
of the States in whose limits those internal improvements are made, 
the authority of Congress extending no further than to pass the 
necessary and proper laws to carry into execution their enumerated 
powers. 4. That the American Colonization Society is not an 
object of national interest, and that Congress has no power in any 
way to patronize or direct appropriations for the benefit of this 
or any other society." ^ And the senators and representatives 
were instructed to oppose all movements in these directions. 

Such was the condition of affairs under which the tariff bill of 
1828 was brought forward for action in Congress. In the discussion 
of details, Benton endeavored to induce the Senate to increase the 
duty on indigo, and upon the opposition of both Dickerson and 
Webster declared that " the friends of the American system had better 
assert at once to the South that they have no lot or portion under 
that system." ^ Hayne declared that " he was opposed to the bill 
in its principles as well as in its details. It could assume no shape 
which would make it acceptable to him or which could prevent it 
from operating most oppressively on his constituents, but with these 
views he had determined to make no motion to amend the bill in 
any respect whatever ; but when such motions were made by others 

' Ramsay, " Resolution on State Rights," Sweeny & Sims, State Printers, Co- 
lumbia, South Carolina. At the Telescope Press, 1827. 

* "Abridgment of the Debates of Congress," Vol. 9, pp. 596-603. 



CALHOUN FORESEES TROUBLE 219 

and he was compelled to vote on them, he knew no better rule than 
to endeavor to make the bill consistent with itself." On the 13th 
of May, after a speech at length in opposition from Hayne, in which 
he "entered a solemn protest against it as a partial, unjust and un- 
constitutional measure," the bill passed by a vote of 26 to 21. 
Five senators from New England voted against it, seven in its 
favor. Tennessee and Louisiana gave both one vote for and one 
against, the remainder of the senators from the South against; 
but the Middle States and the West supported it with a solid vote. 
Silsbee of Massachusetts voted against it, Webster for it. Up to 
the last minute, according to John Quincy Adams, Webster hesi- 
tated, telling the President that it would depend on " his and his 
colleague Silsbee's vote, and he expressed some doubt how he 
should vote." ^ With grim humor, the President records another 
expression of opinion of the annoyed statesman, "There was 
the damned tariff, and our friend J. Q. is as bad upon it as any of 
the rest." ^ 



Memoirs of John Quincy Adams," Vol. 7, p. 534. 
Ibid., Vol. 6, pp. 275. 



1 " 

2 



CHAPTER IX 

THE TEMPER OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1828. HAYNE REELECTED 
BY UNANIMOUS VOTE TO THE SENATE. HIS FIRST CLASH 
WITH WEBSTER 

The temper of the South at this time has been accurately stated 
by Mr. McMaster in his declaration that the citizens of the states 
of the South, and especially those of South Carolina, "were con- 
vinced, and justly, that duties laid for protection bore with especial 
weight on the slave-holding States." ^ Proceeding, he observes: 
" When the twenty-eighth of June came, the day being the anniver- 
sary of the battle of Monmouth, the secessionists seized the occasion 
and celebrated it with toasts and speeches of a seditious sort." 
What particular interest the people of South Carolina had in the 
battle of Monmouth over any other indecisive battle fought at the 
North, one is at a loss to imagine ; but fortunately the genial old 
Major Garden, who has been before quoted, informs us, under date 
of June 3, 1828, that "the Intendant and Wardens of Moultrie- 
ville have been pleased to fix on me to deliver an eulogy on Moul- 
trie, on the spot where his glories were achieved on Sullivan's 
Island, on the 28th instant, the anniversary of the day on which 
the important battle was fought which covered him with glory." 
So we see what really was the occasion of the celebration. After 
prophesying that the tariff of 1828 will give rise to a "Blow," 
the Major adds: "All seem to be of one mind with regard to the 
tariff & I think a large majority in favor of dismissing our present 

1 "History of the People of the United States," Vol. 5, pp. 254-258. 

220 



I 



THE TEMPER OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1828 221 

President to make way for Jackson." The tariffs had made the 
people bitter. In the three years from 1825 the cotton crop had 
increased from 569,240 bales to 937,281. The price had held up 
well under the tariff of 1816, for three or four years, and what 
fall there was, could reasonably be accounted for from increased 
production ; but after a temporary spurt upward in 1825, it dropped 
to about half the value, ranging from 8 cents to 14 J cents a pound, 
and in this year, 1828, from 8 cents to 11^ cents, with a reduced 
crop of but 712,000' bales. As their mainstay went down, by en- 
actment their expenses were increased, and that, they believed, in 
its turn, forced down the price of their produce; for certain it was 
that with 25 per cent less cotton produced under the tariff of 
abominations, the price had still declined. The city of Charleston, 
in addition, was this year visited by an affection called the Dangue, 
with regard to which Major Garden says in one of his letters to 
Charles Manigault : "It would be useless to attempt an account of 
the variety of its symptoms ; for no two people endured a similarity 
of suffering. It is said that Colonel Drayton was found in his 
study on the top of a table declaiming loudly against the tariff 
system." Then he enters into an account of his own experience, 
concluding with an interesting piece of news. *' During the entire 
summer the violence of disease and pressure of pecuniary difficulty 
cast a gloom over our entire society that had never been previously 
known. ... It was a lucky thing for me that immediately 
after my confinement the thought struck me that I might ad- 
vantageously put into shape the mass of Revolutionary Anecdotes 
that have long been accumulating on my hands. I accordingly set 
seriously about it and in a little time completed my intended publi- 
cation to my wish. The Press is now in labor and ready to bring 
forth my little Bantling. If it prove sound in wind and limb, 

'"Memoir," the Cotton Plant Pamphlets, Vol.16, Ser. 2, p. 61, Charleston 
Library Society. 



222 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

I trust it will be cherished by the pap of public favor ; but if mis- 
shapen & rickety, I should be sorry that my friends should patronize 
an abortion that I would blush to own. . . . We are all Jackson 
men here and anti-tariff to a man. The excitement is very great. 
Yankees were never in great credit here, even their consummate 
impudence could not gain them admission into society, but 
now they are in worse odor than ever. My poor friend General 
Pinckney (Thomas) said let me but see Jackson elected & I shall die 
contented; but the stroke of death was too near at hand, & 
he fell amidst the most sincere regrets of an admiring people." ^ 

But if the genial, if somewhat hasty, old Revolutionary Major 
had forgotten the wording of his announced visit "to the North," 
only two years previous, "to wile away the summer months among 
the friends of our more youthful days, etc.," in his indiscriminate 
denunciation of " Yankees " there were others still faithful. The 
administration was not without friends and supporters in the State. 
Two of the daily papers of Charleston, the City Gazette and the 
Courier, were for Adams and attacking Jackson and Calhoun with 
acerbity, giving that brilliant phrase maker, Henry L. Pinckney, 
all he could do to explain his previous assaults upon the General. 
They also met the cry against the "Yankees" by the pubhcation 
of the vote before mentioned, with the further showing that New 
England had been against the increase of duties by 22 to 16 in the 
House.^ 

Yet while Calhoun was assailed, Hayne was unanimously re- 
elected to the Senate, the first time in more than a decade that that 
had happened in South Carolina. 

Giving Calhoun all credit for the greatest patriotism, it is dif- 
ficult to avoid the belief that he realized the great possible advan- 
tage of stepping into Crawford's shoes. He might have thought 

* Original letter in possession of Miss Ellen H. Jervey, Charleston, South 
Carolina. 2 City Gazette, July 18, 1828. 



THE TEMPER OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1828 



223 



that standing up in these would be a statesman in the place of a 
paralyzed politician ; but whatever his thoughts, he began that 
careful movement in this year, 1828, which was not entirely com- 
pleted until 183 1. The Exposition was launched, although the 
author was not yet announced and known only to a few intimates ; 
meanwhile in the United States Senate, Senator Smith had introduced 
the protest of South Carolina, which was supported by both of her 
senators in brief but pointed phrase. "Viewing the United States 
as one country," Hayne said, " the people of the South might almost 
be considered as strangers in the land of their fathers. The 
fruits of their industry had from the policy pursued by the Federal 
Government for many years been flowing to the North in a current, 
as steady and undeviating as the waters of the great Gulf; and as the 
sources of our prosperity were drying up, that reciprocal intercourse 
which had softened asperities and bound the different parts of the 
country together in the bonds of common sympathy and affection 
had in a great measure ceased. That close and intimate com- 
munion, necessary to a full knowledge of each other, no longer ex- 
isted, and in its place there was springing up (it is useless to deny 
the truth) among the people in opposite quarters of the Union a 
spirit of jealousy and distrust, founded on a settled conviction, on 
the one part, that they are the victims of injustice, and on the other 
that our complaints, if not groundless, may be safely disregarded. 
. . . The Legislature of South Carolina coming directly from the 
people have, at their late session, with a unanimity without example, 
instructed their senators to lay this their protest before you. In 
obedience to that command my colleague and myself here in our 
places, in the presence of the representatives of the several States, 
and in the face of the whole American people, solemnly protest 
against the system of protecting duties as 'Unconstitutional, 
Oppressive and Unjust.' " * 

* " Abridgment of the Debates of Congress," Vol. 10, p. 245. 



224 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

In the early portion of the session of 1828-29, Hayne spoke but 
seldom. He supported with his vote two or three attempts on the 
part of his colleague, Senator Smith, to effect legislation, which were 
not successful; while he himself carried through, without opposi- 
tion, a resolution which, as chairman of the committee on Naval 
Affairs, it fell to him to offer ; but until the close of the session he did 
not take a prominent part in the discussions of the body. Nor does 
it seem from a scrutiny of the debates did Webster. The latter 
had, in the previous year, supported the tariff of 1828 ; but Dicker- 
son, as chairman of the committee on Manufactures, had been more 
conspicuous. Webster had reported from the committee on 
Judiciary legislation of some importance ; but in the two sessions 
he had attended, had hardly taken a distinct lead in any matter of 
moment. In the closing hours of this Congress, however, he did so. 
On February 27, 1829, four days before the expiration of Congress, 
he offered a resolution in reference to the abortive Panama mission : 
"Resolved that the President be requested to communicate to the 
Senate copies of the instructions given to the Ministers of the 
United States to the Congress of Panama; and of the communica- 
tions of other Governments represented at that Congress to the 
Government of the United States; or so much thereof as may 
be communicated without detriment to the public interest." * 
Tazewell of Virginia immediately questioned the object, and 
Webster declared that it was to obtain information on "a highly 
interesting subject." Tazewell still objecting, Webster threw out 
the suggestion that the publication could be considered as an 
opportunity for the retiring President to vindicate his conduct, 
which had been censured. Hayne then interposed and, from his 
familiarity with the rules, made it clear that the resolution was not 
in order, and moved to lay it on the table, which, despite Webster's 
offer to amend and the support he received from Benton and 

* " Abridgment of the Debates of Congress," Vol. 10, pp. 249-257. 



THE TEMPER OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1828 225 

McKinley, was ordered by a vote of 23 to 22. On the 3d of March 
the instructions were transmitted to Congress in a message from 
the President. Tazewell immediately moved a reference to the 
committee on Foreign Relations. Chambers, in the absence of 
Webster, moved that the message and documents be printed, 
against which Tazewell and Berrien spoke; while Holmes sup- 
ported the motion. Hayne replied to Holmes, and the motion to 
print was lost by a vote of 18 to 24. At the extra session, im- 
mediately following the inauguration of Jackson, Webster suc- 
ceeded in amending the wording of the resolution of transference 
to the legislative journal, by the incorporation therein of the words 
"or impropriety," so that it should read, "such transfer not to be 
considered either expressive of an opinion on the part of the Senate 
of the propriety or impropriety of the said message, or of the 
language used, the principles avowed or the measures suggested in 
said instructions." But the effort, renewed, to have the message 
printed, failed. 

This controversy has been so fully dealt with, because, as it 
will appear later, there was an intimate connection with a much 
more famous one. It excited considerable feeling. In regretting 
the absence of Webster in the early part of the discussion, he only 
arriving in time to vote on Hayne's motion to table, Chambers had 
declared that he "had admired, although he did not believe he 
could have imitated, the conciliatory temper of his honorable friend 
(Webster)." Hayne, in reply, had observed that "the President 
might have caused the instructions to be printed and circulated 
without sending them to the Senate, and he could have had no 
objection to his doing so; but when the attempt was made to con- 
vert this House into the mere instrument for the accomplishment 
of such a purpose, he felt disposed to pause and inquire into the 
object intended to be accomplished by the proceeding." Chambers 
declared that he was unable to discover the force of the objection 

Q 



226 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

urged by the senator from South Carolina; but from the vote of 
24 to 1 8, in its support, it is evident that the Senate did. For his 
action in this matter, as well as in the defeat of the bill for the 
scientific expedition to the South Seas/ effected in conjunction 
with Tazewell, Hayne incurred the enmity of John Quincy Adams, 
in addition to giving a grievance to a much more redoubtable 
adversary. 

* "Memoirs of John Quincy Adams," Vol. 8, p. 106. 



I 



!i 



CHAPTER X 

" OUR FRIEND J. Q." HIS VARYING VIEWS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 
HIS ESTIMATE OF WEBSTER AND OF HAYNE AND OF THE GREAT 
DEBATE 

No adequate conception can be formed of Robert Y. Hayne 
without some consideration of the character of his harshest critic. 
John Quincy Adams was probably the most original character 
who has ever attained prominence in our national history. In- 
tellectually, he was one of the strongest men this country has ever 
produced. Passionate, egotistical and ambitious, he was at the 
same time intensely religious, and this religious exaltation was 
sufficient to curb both his flaming passions and his towering am- 
bition, as long as the first-named influence was moving counter to 
the last two; but when passion and religious ecstasy were blended, 
he became no longer amenable to any restraint. Up to an advanced 
age he was an athlete, enjoying that exposure to the risk of life 
and limb which can only be felt by those endowed with strength 
and courage; and if he could have looked upon others with more 
charity, and upon himself with less egotism, he might have been 
one of the greatest men this country has raised to the Presidency ; 
but he was outstripped and superseded by men distinctly his in- 
feriors, save in one quality he lacked, viz., the attractive force of 
human sympathy. No greater contrast can be found than that of 
his life, as his public actions show he lived it, and as his diary in- 
dicates he felt it. He had little respect for Webster, and in the 
Ninian Edwards investigation, where Webster viewed the matter 
differently from Calhoun and Adams, he accuses him of "a base- 

227 



228 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

ness in it that revolts me beyond measure." Yet this is the man he 
eulogizes as having "demolished" the "malignant Hayne." 

In 1819, when he was Secretary of State, his objection to the 
right of search was so pronounced that he describes it as "a new 
principle of the law of nations more formidable to human liberty 
than the slave trade itself." ^ And at this date, with regard to the 
status of the negro in the United States, he puts himself on ground 
almost identical with that occupied by Hayne in his great speech 
against the Colonization Society in 1827. In his diary, in the spring 
of 1 81 9, he sets out his views concerning the Society and the negroes 
as follows: "I would apprehend the Society, like all fanatical 
associations, is intolerant, will push and intrigue and worry, till I 
shall be obliged to take a stand and appear publicly among their 
opponents. . . . The object of the Society ... as far as it 
would be practicable, would be productive of more evil than good. 
... I believe that the mass of colored people who may be re- 
moved to Africa by the Colonization Society will suffer more and 
enjoy less than they would should they remain in their actual con- 
dition in the United States." ^ Yet within ten months, while the 
halls of Congress were resounding with the stormy debate over the 
Missouri question, and, as the National Intelligencer puts it, at the 
time: "The balance of power vibrates, and the feelings of our 
politicians vibrate in sympathy," he writes : " Oh, if but one man 
could arise with a genius capable of supporting and an utterance 
capable of communicating those eternal truths that belong to this 
question, to lay bare in all its nakedness that outrage upon the 
goodness of God, human slavery, now is the time and the occasion 
upon which such a man would perform the duties of an angel upon 
earth." ^ He notes almost contemporaneously, however, that Clay 
has been "laboring for two years to get up a new party," * and the 

• "Memoirs of John Quincy Adams," Vol. 4, p. 354. 

* Ihid., Vol. 4, p. 356. ^ Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 525. * Ihid., Vol. 4, p. 529. 



"OUR FRIEND J. Q." 229 

thought suggests itself to him of an " extirpation of the African race 
by the gradually bleaching process of an intermixture where the 
white portion is already so predominant." ^ But the flame of 
sectionalism sank as suddenly as it arose. Monroe was renominated 
without any opposition, and the legislature of his own State, in 
the report of its committee on the free colored people of Massa- 
chusetts, dispelled this angelic dream and drove him back to the 
association of slave holders, and finally the Presidency, under the 
dominating influence of Clay. But as late as April 19, 1828, there 
seem to have been pleasant relations between Hayne and Adams,^ 
and not until his defeat by Jackson in 1828 does there appear the 
least criticism of Hayne, the leader of the opposition in the Senate, 
during the entire period of the administration then coming to an 
end. Then, however, we are informed of "meetings at Hayne's 
lodgings of a violent character, as threatening disunion." ^ The 
characterization, when subsequently brought to Hayne's notice, 
elicited a denial; but when he later blocked Webster's move in 
behalf of the vindication of the President with regard to the Panama 
mission, Adams's bile rises against the South Carolinian. He does 
not allude to that, but makes the action of Hayne with regard to 
the bill for the scientific expedition to the South Seas the occasion 
for strictures indulged immediately after the final defeat of the 
effort to have his message relating to the Panama mission printed. 
On that date he complains that the bill for the scientific expedi- 
tion was "defeated by Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, chair- 
man of the Naval Committee and L. W. Tazewell of Virginia, 
both men of some talents; but whose sense of justice, of patriotism 
and truth is swallowed up by the passions of party combining in 
both with overbearing arrogance, rancorous tempers and in Taze- 
well, never dying personal hatred of me." * An examination of this 

' Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 531. ^ Ibid., Vol. 8, p. 83. 

* Ibid., Vol. 7, p. 513. * Ibid., Vol. 8, p. 106. 



230 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

matter, as it appears in the " Abridgment of the Debates of Con- 
gress," shows nothing in Hayne's speech which could by any rational 
being be twisted into an unjust or unpatriotic declaration ; while the 
claims made by him in his temperate utterance were so direct and 
positive, and so easy of refutation, if untrue, that it is impossible 
to imagine that they were other than exactly as stated. They were, 
in brief, that the Secretary of the Navy had asked for an appro- 
priation of $50,000, for which a bill had been promptly drafted 
by the Naval Committee and reported, but that Congress had 
failed to act upon it. Then the House had passed a resolution on 
the subject, which had never been sent to the Senate; and on that 
the Secretary had started to incur expenses not only without any 
legal authority, but apparently beyond even the amount contem- 
plated by the bills, which had failed to pass. Hayne seems to have 
defeated this bill, simply by securing the passage of a resolution, 
without a dissenting voice, requesting the President for infor- 
mation. 

In the session of 1829-30 Hayne fully maintained the influential 
position which he had held from the time of his entrance into that 
body. In the opening days he exemplified this in the debate on 
the bill, explanatory of the act to reduce and fix the military 
peace establishment. His reply to Smith of Maryland and 
Holmes of Maine is as clear-cut and concise an argument as can 
be made concerning the value of a preamble for an act; while its 
application to the recent tariff bill drew an inadequate answer 
from Dickerson. Webster does not seem to have participated in 
this discussion at all. Incontestably he had not since his entrance 
in 1827 wielded that influence in the Senate he not unnaturally 
thought his due. He must have realized the inability of the mem- 
bers of his own faction to cope with Hayne. He bore the latter a 
slight grudge. He admitted that in his utterly unnecessary denial 
of the fact in his great speech. He therefore seized upon the 



"OUR FRIEND J. Q." 231 

occasion presented by Senator Foote's resolution to inquire into the 
expediency of suspending the sales of the public lands, to pre- 
cipitate an oratorical duel, and with the genius of a strategist he 
selected a position from which, if his assault failed, he could swiftly 
mount to the unassailable peak of his apotheosis to the Union. 
It was a magnificent conception, splendidly executed ; but the fic- 
tion that in the debate he demolished his adversary, is unworthy 
of the great country that produced them both, and the section that 
finally triumphed in the ultima ratio regum, with which it was 
thrashed out. Of course if a peroration is all of a speech, and 
nothing else is to be considered, then it must be admitted that 
Webster, who caught and crystallized into one glowing passage 
the aspirations of his countrymen (as they had never before nor 
have ever since been portrayed), accomplished his aim; but as 
three speeches were delivered by each of the speakers, one pero- 
ration can scarcely suffice for all. The truth is, that the public 
has been unwilling to consider this contest fairly, and accordingly, 
the most magnanimous motives have been assigned to Webster. 
Parton, who is a very free quoter, credits Webster with the asser- 
tion: "The whole debate was a matter of accident. I had left the 
court pretty late in the day and went into the Senate with my court 
papers under my arm just to see what was passing. It so happened 
that Mr. Hayne very soon rose in his first speech. I did not like 
it and my friends liked it less." ^ Mr. Benton says : " Mr. Webster 
came into the field upon choice and deliberation, well feeling 
the grandeur of the occasion, and profoundly studying his part. 
He had observed during the summer the signs in South Carolina 
and marked the proceedings of some public meetings unfriendly 
to the Union, and which he ran back to the incubation of Mr. 
Calhoun. He became the champion of the Constitution and of the 
Union, choosing his time and occasion, hanging his speech upon 

* Parton, "Life of Jackson," Vol. 3, p. 281. 



232 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

a disputed motion with which it had nothing to do, and which was 
immediately lost sight of in the blaze and expansion of a great 
national discussion; himself armed and equipped for the contest 
glittering in the panoply of every species of parliamentary and 
forensic weapon, — solid argument, playful wit, biting sarcasm, 
classic allusion, and striking at a new doctrine of South Carolina 
origin, in which Hayne was not implicated ; but his friends were — 
and that made him their defender." ^ Benton might have con- 
sidered nullification "a new doctrine of South Carolina origin"; 
but Webster from New England knew its origin. That Hayne 
knew as much about its origin as his speeches indicated, was some- 
thing of a surprise to Webster. 

But why should there be such an effort to find out a motive for 
Webster's attack, when he inadvertently but distinctly states it 
himself, in his greatest effort: "There is nothing here. Sir, which 
gives me the slightest uneasiness, neither fear nor anger, nor that 
— which is sometimes more troublesome than either — the con- 
sciousness of having been in the wrong. . . . Nothing original, 
for I had not the slightest feeling of disrespect or unkindness tow- 
ards the honorable member some passages it is true had occurred 
since our acquaintance in this body which I could have wished 
otherwise; hut I had used philosophy and forgotten them.''^ ^ His 
very claim that he had forgotten, furnished the proof of his remem- 
brance of the way barred to the vindication of President Adams, 
which, as the champion of the administration, he had failed to 
force, and also by whom it had been barred. Perhaps the fairest 
discussion that has ever been written of the great debate between 
Hayne and Webster is the description in "The Sectional Struggle," 
by Cicero W. Harris; but some extracts from the "Memoirs of 

1 Benton, "Thirty Years' View," Vol. 2, p. 187. 

* "Webster's Second Speech, Debate on Foote's Resolution." Printed by A. E. 
Miller, 1830, So. Ca. Hist. Society, p. 38. (Italicized by author.) 



"OUR FRIEND J. Q." 233 

John Quincy Adams" will illustrate the growth of the legend of 
the "demolition" of Hayne. We will find the Northern senators 
all (perfectly free from that "baseness," which in Webster, on a 
previous occasion, had so revolted Adams) animated to the lofti- 
est eloquence; while Hayne and Benton, being actuated by low 
motives, strive desperately, only to their own undoing. "The 
assault was so rancorous and desperate that it roused the spirit of 
the East, and Webster and Sprague have made eloquent speeches 
in its defence. Holmes finished a powerful speech to-day." ^ 
And a little later: "The National Intelligencer had this day half 
a recent speech of Mr. Webster, which has been much celebrated 
in reply to a violent invective against him by R. Y. Hayne. It 
filled almost two sides of the paper, and the other half is to come 
on Thursday. It is defensive of himself and New England; but 
carries the war into the enemies' territory. It is a remarkable 
instance of readiness in debate. A reply of at least four hours to 
a speech of equal length. It demolishes the whole fabric of 
Hayne' s speech, so that it leaves scarcely the wreck to be seen." 
But when the "malignant" Hayne had been removed from the 
stage, and Webster on a later occasion was developing with the 
greatest care the same argument, the keen intellect of the ex- 
President disposes of him in this fashion: "Mr. Webster is a very 
handsome speaker, but he over-labored a point as plain as day, 
and he hung his cause upon a broken hinge in maintaining that a 
government is not a compact." ^ 

It should be mentioned that a week or two prior to the great 
debate between Hayne and Webster, the latter had presented the 
memorial of the South Carolina Canal and Railroad to Congress, 
praying a subscription from the government for 2500 shares, which 
he very handsomely explained had been confided to his hands from 

> "Memoirs of John Quincy Adams," Vol. 8, pp. 190-193. 
^ Ibid., Vol. 8, pp. 512-526. 



234 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

no disrespect to the two senators from South Carolina; but solely 
because the petitioners were unwilling to trespass upon the reluc- 
tance of these gentlemen to present petitions which their opinions 
as to the constitutional powers of government would cause them 
to oppose. 



CHAPTER XI 

hayne's speech on the public lands. Webster's assault 

upon hayne 

Speaking strictly to Foote's resolution concerning the public 
lands, Hayne had opposed the accumulation of a fund by the sale 
of such for that purpose; but had urged the granting of them to 
the States "on such terms and conditions as may fully indemnify 
us for the cost of the original purchase and all the trouble and ex- 
pense to which we may have been put on their account." He 
stated that he was opposed to the policy of the public land being 
"reserved as a permanent fund for revenue"; he feared that "an 
immense national Treasury would be a fund for corruption"; he 
believed that "the very Hfe of our system is the independence of the 
States and that there is no evil more to be deprecated than the 
consolidation of this Government." 

Here we have an argument proceeding entirely along lines of 
national policy, the best way of using the public lands. "Perhaps, 
Sir," he continues, "the lands ought not to be entirely relinquished 
to any State, until she shall have made considerable advances in 
population and settlement. Ohio has probably reached that con- 
dition." Could anything be more temperate? 

But he who is determined to provoke a contest or a controversy 
never troubles himself very much about a cause, and Webster, 
having decided to attack Hayne, made this his occasion. " Quite 
indifferent," as he admits, concerning the passage of the resolu- 
tion, "yet," as he claims, "opinions were expressed by the gentle- 

235 



236 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

man from South Carolina so widely different from my own that I 
am not willing to let the occasion pass without some reply." 

With this opening he proceeded to discuss some of these opinions, 
stating them to suit the assault he proposed to make upon them, 
and declared that "the Honorable Gentleman spoke of the whole 
course and policy of the Government towards those who have 
purchased and settled the public lands; and seemed to think the 
policy wrong. He held it to have been from the first hard and 
rigorous; he was of the opinion that the United States had acted 
towards those who had subdued the Western wilderness in the 
spirit of a step-mother; that the public domain had been im- 
properly regarded as a source of revenue ; and that we had rigidly 
compelled payment for that which ought to have been given away." 

This was a misstatement of Hayne's contention, which was that 
"there were two great parties in this country who entertained very 
opposite opinions" in relation to the public lands. One, that 
" Congress has pursued not only a highly just and liberal course, 
but one of extraordinary kindness and indulgence . . . ; while 
the other party, embracing the entire West, insist that we have 
treated them from the beginning, not like heirs of the Estate, but in 
the spirit of a hard taskmaster, resolved to promote our selfish 
interest from the fruit of their labor." Stating what the policy was, 
in fact, he had declared it was " selling out from time to time certain 
portions of the public lands for the highest price that could possibly 
be obtainedfor them in open market," ^ — a policy which he declared 
to be different from that of every other nation that had ever at- 
tempted to establish colonies or create States. Then alluding to the 
policy under which he claimed the whole Atlantic coast had been 
settled, he had announced it as based upon "the behef that the 
conquest of a new country, the driving out the ' savage beasts and 

» "The Several Speeches on Foote's Resolution, by Hayne and Webster." 
Printed by A. E. Miller, 1830, So. Ca. Hist. Society, Hayne's first speech, p. 4. 



THE PUBLIC LANDS DISCUSSED 237 

still more savage men,' cutting down and subduing the forests and 
encountering all the hardships and privations necessarily incident 
to the conversion of the wilderness into cultivated fields was worth 
the fee simple of the soil," and "submitted to the candid considera- 
tion of gentlemen, whether the policy so diametrically opposed to 
this, which has been invariably pursued by the United States 
towards the new States in the West, has been quite so just as we 
have been accustomed to believe?" ^ 

Can any one, in whom the sense of justice is even dormant, assert 
that this is what Webster stated as Hayne's opinion ? But when, 
looking farther into Hayne's speech, we find that he distinctly 
suggests, "The relinquishment may be made by a sale to the State 
at a fixed price, which I wiU not say should not be nominal ; but I 
certainly should not be disposed to fix the amount so high as to 
keep the States for any length of time in debt to the United States," ^ 
how can any reasonable being believe that Webster understood 
Hayne to contend, as he claimed he did, that "we had rigidly com- 
pelled payment for that which ought to have been given away ? "^ 

Having erected, however, his man of straw, Webster proceeded 
to knock it down. He denied that there had been anything harsh 
or severe in the policy of the government towards the new States 
of the West, and after reiterating the charge that the Honorable 
Member thinks the lands should have been given away, he con- 
siders the statement that "the administration of a fixed revenue 
only consohdates the government and corrupts the people." 
Even this is not a correct statement of Hayne's position; but it is 
not so glaringly incorrect as the first, and on it Webster drives in a 
powerful argument, based upon the letter in which the framers of 
the Constitution submitted that instrument to the country. In- 

^Ibid.,p.s. 
* Ibid., p. 9. 
^ Ibid., Webster's first speech, p. 11. 



^^38 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

cidentally, he charges that "persons in the part of the country 
from which the Honorable Member comes, speak of the Union in 
terms of indifference or even disparagement." Passing on from 
this, however, he dehberately asserts : "I come now, Mr. President, 
to that part of the gentleman's speech which has been the main 
occasion of my addressing the Senate. The East ! The obnoxious, 
the rebuked, the always reproached East ! We have come in, 
Sir, on this debate, for even more than a common share of accusa- 
tion and attack." But he realizes that this is too full a draft for 
any one to swallow, so quickly adds: "If the Honorable Member 
from South Carolina was not our original accuser, he has yet re- 
cited the indictment against us with the air and tone of a public 
prosecutor. . . . And the cause of all this narrow and selfish 
policy, the gentleman finds in the tariff — I think he called 
it the accursed policy of the tariff." In this partly playful mis- 
statement, at the expense of the experienced debater before him, 
Webster ventured on dangerous ground. But from it he passed to 
other points, taking occasion to compare the free States with the 
slave States, to the disadvantage of the latter. In conclusion, he 
stated that he had "felt it his duty to vindicate the State he rep- 
resented from charges and imputations on her public character and 
conduct, which he knew to be undeserved and unfounded." 

It was a clever, disingenuous, provocative speech, in which the 
distinct statement is made that "the main occasion" for it was the 
charge made against the East of a "narrow and selfish policy of 
endeavoring to restrain emigration to the West and of maintaining 
a steady opposition to Western measures and Western interests." 
By easy gradations he passed from the East to New England, and 
later " the State he represented," with regard to which, not one word 
can be found in Hayne's speech. It was an irritating speech, and 
doubtless meant to be. It was to tempt the one attacked to a reply, 
after which he would be overwhelmed by the real speech, with 



i 



THE PUBLIC LANDS DISCUSSED 239 

regard to which, as Benton might have expressed it, as he does 
insinuate, Webster was lying in, to be dehvered of. Superbly 
confident of his splendid strength, he carelessly invited the storm ; 
but his subsequent tone and utterance indicated that he had by no 
means accurately gauged the force of the tempest which broke on 
him. Careless is the proper word ; for no greater contrast can be 
found between two speeches than the nonchalant, flippant, offen- 
sive style of his first speech, and the wary, painstaking, deliberately 
defensive attitude assumed in the second and supreme effort. In 
this latter there were counter attacks ; for he was too great a master 
of his art not to know that by such alone can the defence be made 
effective; but it is apparent that, starting upon the offensive, with 
confidence from his past triumphs in the House so great, he 
actually dropped back into the use of the word "member," he 
passed over to the defensive. The very misleading title with which 
his speeches are generally lumped together and published without 
Hayne's, indicates this; for while he was the aggressor, his effort is 
styled without any differentiation of parts, "Webster's Reply to 
Hayne." With supreme skill, under as burning a fire as ever de- 
bater was subjected to, disclosing in the mighty effort with which 
he extricated himself the wounds he had received, he delivered a 
powerful but not complete blow at nullification, sjid, mounting to an 
unassailable position, grandly apotheosized the flag under whose 
ample folds he found the " shadow of a great rock in a weary land." 
The transcendent beauty of that apotheosis awoke the spirit of 
nationality and thrilled it as it had never been thrilled before. 
To-day those phrases still thrill the pulse of the people, and the 
vast majority of men are incapable of accurately estimating that 
portion of the speech which preceded it, or the fire of the adversary 
for which it was alone the adequate response. 

Webster was a mighty genius ; Hayne was not abnormal, there- 
fore it is doubtful whether he could be called a genius, in one 



240 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

accepted sense of the word. He had not received the advantages of 
education which had been bestowed upon Webster, and, to a great 
extent, was a self-educated man. But the grasp of his mind was 
immense, the profundity of his judgment has not yet been fully 
fathomed and his readiness in debate has never been surpassed, if 
it has been equalled. In argument, his speech, with the exception 
of the justification of nullification as a constitutional remedy, 
a hopeless task for the strongest, went beyond Webster's, and in 
the effective use of sarcasm he shone more brightly. In beauty of 
diction he rose to a lofty height, and if he failed to reach the in- 
accessible peak to which, on strong pinion, Webster soared in his 
peroration, in justice to him it should be remembered that his 
cause gave him none such to mount to. But in addition to what 
has been claimed for him, he used with telling effect a weapon with 
which his adversary's armory was not furnished. The glorious 
triumphs of the New Englander, in a cause which he had finally 
abandoned, but in the righteousness of which it was impossible for 
him not to have continued to believe, were fashioned into whips 
with which to scourge him, and this Webster felt, keenly, as his 
great speech indicates. But enough has been said to bring fairly 
before the reader Hayne's reply to Webster's assault. It opened 
with an easy, natural clearing away of the misstatements concern- 
ing his own speech on the public lands, and this being accomplished, 
he took the offensive and drove home point after point, which it 
was impossible to answer. 



CHAPTER XII 

HAYNE'S reply to WEBSTER 

In reply to Mr. Webster, Mr. Hayne rose and said: "When I 
took occasion, Mr. President, two days ago, to throw out some 
ideas with respect to the poHcy of the government in relation to 
the public lands, nothing certainly could have been further from 
my thoughts than that I should be compelled again to throw myself 
upon the indulgence of the Senate. Little did I expect to be 
called upon to meet such an argument as was yesterday urged by 
the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster). Sir, I ques- 
tioned no man's opinions, — I impeached no man's motives, — I 
charged no part or state or section of country with hostility to any 
other, but ventured, I thought, in a becoming spirit, to put forth my 
own sentiments in relation to a great question of public policy. 
Such was my course. The gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Benton) , 
it is true, had charged upon the Eastern States an early and con- 
tinued hostility towards the West, and referred to a number of 
historical facts and documents in support of that charge. Now, 
Sir, how have those different arguments been met ? The Honor- 
able Gentleman from Massachusetts, after deliberating a whole 
night upon his course, comes into this chamber to vindicate New 
England; and instead of making up his issue with the gentleman 
from Missouri on the charges which he had preferred, chooses 
to consider me as the author of these charges, and losing sight 
entirely of that gentleman, selects me as his adversary, and pours 
out all the vials of his mighty wrath upon my devoted head. Nor 

R 241 



242 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

is he willing to stop there. He goes on to assail the institutions 
and policy of the South, and calls in question the principles and 
conduct of the State, which I have the honor in part to represent. 
When I find a gentleman of mature age and experience, of acknowl- 
edged talents and profound sagacity, pursuing a course like this, 
declining the contest offered from the West, and making war upon 
the unoffending South, I must believe — I am bound to believe, 
— he has some object in view that he has not ventured to dis-, 
close." ^ 

Up to this point the opening could not have been improved upon. 
Not unnaturally, Hayne proceeded with his insinuation that Web- 
ster feared an encounter with Benton; but that broadening of 
the charge afforded an opportunity for a reply to this otherwise 
unassailable statement of his case. His development of the theme, 
his allusion to "the ghost of the murdered coalition come back like 
the ghost of Banquo to ' sear the eyeballs' of the gentleman," was 
a pretty bit of fancy, but rather dangerous playfulness in which 
to sport with such an adversary as Webster. But from then, ad- 
dressing himself to the argument, Hayne makes, in its compre- 
hensive conciseness, a powerful point at the very outset: "The 
gentleman from Massachusetts, in reply to my remarks on the 
injurious operation of our land system on the prosperity of the 
West, pronounces an extravagant eulogium on the paternal care 
which the Government had extended towards the West, to which 
he attributed all that was great and excellent in the present con- 
dition of the new States. The language of the gentleman on this 
topic fell on my ears like the almost forgotten tones of the Tory 
leaders of the British Parliament at the commencement of the 
American Revolution. They, too, discovered that the colonies 
had grown great under the fostering care of the mother country; 
and I must confess, while listening to the gentleman, I thought the 

* "The Several Speeches on Foote's Resolution," Hayne's second speech, p. i. 



HAYNE'S REPLY TO WEBSTER 243 

appropriate reply to his argument was to be found in the remark 
of a celebrated orator made on that occasion, ' They have grown 
great in spite of your protection.'" 

Just at this point, Hayne suspended his argument for a moment 
to hold up to ridicule, by an exhibition of keen sarcasm, a piece 
of hyperbole Webster had been so indiscreet as to have indulged 
in while launching his attack. "The gentleman, in commenting 
on the policy of the Government in relation to the new States, 
has introduced to our notice a certain Nathan Dane of Massachu- 
setts, to whom he attributes the celebrated ordinance of '87, 
by which he tells us 'slavery was forever excluded from the new 
States north of the Ohio.' After eulogizing the wisdom of this 
provision in terms of the most extravagant praise, he breaks forth 
in admiration of the greatness of Nathan Dane — and great, indeed, 
he must be, if it be true, as stated by the Senator from Massa- 
chusetts, that he was greater than Solon and Lycurgus, Minos, 
Numa Pompilius and all the legislators and philosophers of the 
world, ancient and modern. Sir, to such high authority it is cer- 
tainly my duty, in a becoming spirit of humility, to submit, and yet 
the gentleman will pardon me, when I say that it is a little unfor- 
tunate for the fame of this great Legislator, that the gentleman of 
Missouri should have proved that he was not the author of the 
ordinance of '87, on which the Senator from Massachusetts has 
reared so glorious a monument to his name. Sir, I doubt not 
that the Senator will feel some compassion for our ignorance 
when I tell him, that so little are we acquainted with the modern 
great men of New England that until he informed us yesterday 
that we possessed a Solon and a Lycurgus in the person of Nathan 
Dane, he was only known to the South as a member of a celebrated 
assembly called and known by the name of the 'Hartford Con- 
vention.' In the proceedings of that assembly, which I hold in 
my hand (at page 19), will be found in a few lines the history of 



244 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Nathan Dane, and a little further on there is conclusive evidence 
of that ardent devotion to the interests of the new States which it 
seems has given him a just claim to the title of the ' Father of the 
West.' By the second resolution of 'The Hartford Convention' 
it is declared, 'that it is expedient to attempt to make provision 
for restraining Congress in the exercise of an unlimited power to 
make new States and admitting them into the Union ! So much 
for Nathan Dane of Beverly, Massachusetts ! " ^ 

After this, the most brilliant essays of Webster, in the same 
line, seem to lack a little in lightness of touch. 

Having disposed of Nathan Dane, Hayne takes up that portion 
of Webster's speech concerning which the latter had declared had 
been mainly induced by Hayne's argument on the disposition of the 
public lands. He states his own argument and Webster's, and pro- 
duces in support of his own a speech by Webster delivered in the 
House in 1825, and forcibly comments on their similarity. "In 
1825 the gentleman told the world that the public lands 'ought not 
to be treated as treasure.' He now tells us 'they must be treated 
as so much treasure.' What the deliberate opinion of the gentle- 
man on the subject may be, it belongs not to me to determine; 
but I do not think he can, with the shadow of justice or propriety, 
impugn my sentiments, while his own recorded opinions are identi- 
cal with my own." Taking up Webster's contention, that inas- 
much as the public lands are "for the common benefit of all the 
States, they can only be treated as so much treasure," he argues 
that the facilitation of the formation of new States is the best 
way to promote the common benefit of all the States, and pref- 
erable to the measurement of political benefits by the money 
standard. Then passing to the charge of the South's hostility to 
the West, manifested by their opposition to appropriations for 
internal improvement, he calls to mind that the accuser acknowl- 

1 " The Several Speeches on Foote's Resolution," Hayne's second speech, p. 3, et seq. 



HAYNE'S REPLY TO WEBSTER 245 

edged that the South entertains constitutional scruples on the sub- 
ject and then inquires: "Are we then, Sir, to understand that the 
gentleman considers it a just subject of reproach, that we respect 
our oaths by which we are bound to ' preserve, protect and defend the 
Constitution of the United States ' ? Would the gentleman have us 
manifest our love to the West by trampling under foot our con- 
stitutional scruples? Does he not perceive, if the South is to be 
reproached with unkindness to the West, in voting against appro- 
priations, which the gentleman admits they could not vote for 
without doing violence to their constitutional opinions, that he 
exposes himself to the question whether, if he was in our situation, 
he could vote for these appropriations, regardless of his scruples?" 

But extracts from a speech, which from one end to the other 
fairly bristles with points scored, give but little idea of it — the 
speech should be read in conjunction with Webster's rejoinder, 
and the utter inability of that genius to answer many of the thrusts 
with which it abounds is its claim to praise. 

Hayne did not avoid the argument with regard to slavery, but 
fairly stating it, temperately and firmly met the issue. He said : 
"In contrasting the State of Ohio with Kentucky, for the purpose 
of pointing out the superiority of the former, and of attributing 
that superiority to the existence of slavery in the one State and its 
absence in the other, I thought I could discern the very spirit of the 
Missouri question intruded into this debate for objects best known 
to the gentleman himself. Did that gentleman, Sir, when he 
formed the determination to cross the Southern border, in order to 
invade the State of South Carolina, deem it prudent or necessary 
to enlist under his banners the prejudices of the world, which like 
Swiss troops may be engaged in any cause and are prepared to 
serve under any leader? Did he desire to avail himself of those 
remorseless allies, the passions of mankind, of which it may be 
more truly said than of the savage tribes of the wilderness, 'that 



246 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

their known rule of warfare is an indiscriminate slaughter of all 
ages, sexes and conditions' ? Or was it supposed, Sir, that in a pre- 
meditated and unprovoked attack upon the South it was advisable 
to begin by a gentle admonition of our weakness in order to prevent 
us from making that firm and manly resistance due to our own 
character and our dearest interests? Was the significant hint 
of the weakness of the slave-holding States when contrasted with 
the superior strength of the free States — like the glare of the 
weapon half drawn from its scabbard — intended to enforce the 
lessons of prudence and patriotism which the gentleman had 
resolved, out of his abundant generosity, gratuitously to bestow 
upon us? Mr. President, the impression which has gone abroad 
of the weakness of the South as connected with the slave question 
exposes us to such constant attack, has done us so much injury, 
and is calculated to produce such infinite mischiefs, that I embrace 
the occasion presented by the remarks of the gentleman from 
Massachusetts to declare that we are ready to meet the question 
promptly and fearlessly." That question, he does then discuss, in 
a truly fair and liberal spirit for a slave-holder ; but in addition he 
shows what the representatives of the Northern manufacturing 
interests thoroughly recognized, and on account of which they 
almost invariably sided with the South on all questions save that 
of the tariff, viz., that "the States north of the Potomac actually 
derive greater profits from the labor of our slaves than we do our- 
selves." Hayne did not content himself with asserting this; he 
proved it by figures. But when he left this point and proceeded 
to expatiate upon the beneficial influences of slavery upon individ- 
ual and national character, he placed himself upon such slippery 
ground that the presentments of his own district Grand Jury, and 
his own efforts with D. E. Huger and other far-sighted men to stem 
the evil, condemned his argument so positively that not even the 
illustration of Washington as a slave-holder could establish it. 



HAYNE'S REPLY TO WEBSTER 247 

With regard to Webster's strong point on consolidation, he shows 
that his authority supports consolidation of the Union ; while what 
he (Hayne) objected to, was consolidation of the government, a 
rather fine distinction. Then he takes up the tariff, and on that 
point fairly kills his adversary with kindness, painting his glorious 
past, until the blaze of its brilliancy scorches the back turned upon 
it : the rare illustration of eulogy turned into a weapon. As grand 
a tribute as was ever bestowed by a rival, the absolute sincerity of 
it evinced by the speaker's ill-concealed contempt for the opposing 
argument, with which Clay attempted to meet it at the time of 
its delivery. Poor Webster ! undoubtedly his own opinion of his 
performance and his exact thought of Clay's. How could he hope 
to reply to it ? He could not, and did not. Here is Hayne's mas- 
terly handling of that point: "The Senator from Massachusetts, 
in alluding to the tariff, becomes quite facetious. He tells us 
that he hears nothing but tariff ! tariff ! tariff ! and if a word 
could be found to rhyme with it, he presumes it would be celebrated 
in verse and set to music. Sir, perhaps the gentleman in mockery 
of our complaints may be himself disposed to sing the praises of the 
tariff in doggerel verse to the tune of 'Old Hundred.' I am not 
surprised, however, at the aversion of the gentleman to the very 
name of tariff. I doubt not that it must always bring up some 
very unpleasant recollections to his mind. If I am not greatly 
mistaken, the Senator from Massachusetts was a leading actor at 
that great meeting got up in Boston in 1820 against the tariff. It 
has been generally supposed that he drew up the resolutions adopted 
by that meeting, denouncing the tariff system as unequal, oppres- 
sive and unjust; and, if I am not mistaken, denying its constitu- 
tionality. Certain it is that the gentleman made a speech on that 
occasion in support of those resolutions denouncing the system in 
no very measured terms ; and if my memory serves me, calling its 
constitutionality in question. I regret that I have not been able to 



248 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

lay my hands on those proceedings ; but I have seen them, and I 
cannot be mistaken in their character. At that time, Sir, the Sen- 
ator from Massachusetts entertained the very sentiments in relation 
to the tariff which the South now entertains. We next find the 
Senator from Massachusetts expressing his opinion on the tariff 
as a member of the House of Representatives from the city of Boston 
in 1824, On that occasion, Sir, the gentleman assumed a position 
which commanded the respect and admiration of his country. 
He stood forth the powerful and fearless champion of free trade. 
He met in that conflict the advocates of restriction and monopoly, 
and 'they fled from before his face.' With a profound sagacity, a 
fulness of knowledge and a richness of illustration that has never 
been surpassed, he maintained and established the principles of com- 
mercial freedom on a foundation never to be shaken. Great, indeed, 
was the victory achieved by the gentleman on that occasion, most 
striking the contrast between the clear, forcible and convincing 
arguments by which he carried away the understandings of his 
hearers and the narrow views and wretched sophistry of another 
distinguished orator, who may be truly said to have 'held up his 
farthing candle to the sun.' Sir, the Senator from Massachusetts 
on that, the proudest day of his life, bore away upon his shoulders 
the pillars of the temple of error and delusion, escaping himself 
unhurt, and leaving his adversaries overwhelmed in its ruins. 

"Then it was that he erected to free trade a beautiful and en- 
during monument, and 'inscribed the marble with his name.' Mr. 
President, it is with pain and regret that I now go forward to the 
next great era in the political life of that gentleman, when he was 
found on this floor, advocating and finally voting for the tariff of 
1828 — that 'bill of abominations.' By that act. Sir, the Sena- 
tor from Massachusetts has destroyed the labors of his whole life 
and given a wound to the cause of free trade, never to be healed. 
Sir, when I recollect the position which that gentleman once occu- 



HAYNE'S REPLY TO WEBSTER 249 

pied, and that which he now holds in public estimation, in relation 
to this subject, it is not at all surprising that the tariff should be 
hateful to his ears. Sir, if I had erected to my own fame so proud 
a monument as that which the gentleman built up in 1824, and I 
could have been tempted to destroy it with my own hands, I should 
hate the voice that should ring 'the accursed Tariff' in my ears. 
I doubt not the gentleman feels very much in relation to the tariff 
as a certain knight did to instinct, and with him would be disposed 
to exclaim : 

"'Ah! no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me.'" 

From this point Hayne proceeded to his eulogy upon South 
Carolina, which, as beautiful as it is, it is not necessary to insert, 
it being one of the few extracts generally used to represent his 
speech when quoted. With the patriotism of South Carolina in the 
Revolutionary War, he contrasted the behavior of the Federalists 
in Massachusetts during the War of 1812, especially excepting the 
democracy of the latter State from any criticism, and, indeed, 
bestowing upon them unstinted praise. "Sir," he exclaimed, "I 
will declare that highly as I appreciate the democracy of the South, 
I consider even higher praise to be due to the democracy of New Eng- 
land, who have maintained their principles through good and through 
evil report, and at every period of our national history have stood 
up manfully for their country, their whole country, and nothing but 
their country." With regard to the Federalists, however, he sus- 
tained his indictment with a veritable flood of quotations from 
speeches, resolutions, etc., threatening the Union, in the course 
of which appeared an allusion to John Quincy Adams as authority 
for the existence of such a state of mind in New England, quoted 
from Jefferson's works, which gave the ex-President great offence, 
he complainingly noting that it was not answered.^ Objurgation, 

* "Memoirs of John Quincy Adams," Vol. 8, p. 187. 



•■?' 



250 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

imprecation, from the rostrum and the pulpit, Hayne poured them 
forth, concluding with: " 'Those Western States which have been 
violent for this abominable war (1812), God has given them blood 
to drink,' — Mr. President, I can go no further — the records of 
the day are full of such sentiments, issued from the press — spoken 
in public assemblies — poured out from the sacred desk ! God 
forbid, Sir, that I should charge the people of Massachusetts with 
participating in those sentiments. The South and West have had 
their friends — men who stood by their country, though encom- 
passed all around by their enemies — the Senator from Massa- 
chusetts (Mr. Silsbee) was one of them ; the Senator from Connecti- 
cut (Mr. Foot) was another, and there were others now on this floor. 
The sentiments I have read were the sentiments of a party em- 
bracing the political associates of the gentleman from Massachu- 
setts (Mr. Webster). If they could only be found in the columns 
of a newspaper, in a few occasional pamphlets, issued by men of 
intemperate feeling, I should not consider them as affording any 
evidence of the opinions, even of the peace party of New England. 
But, Sir, they were the common language of the day, they pervade 
the whole land — they were issued from the legislative hall — 
from the pulpit and the press — our books are full of them ; and 
there is no man who now hears me but knows that they were the 
sentiments of the party by whose members they were promulgated. 
. . . What must be the state of public opinion where any respect- 
able clergyman would venture to preach and print sermons con- 
taining the sentiments I have quoted ? I doubt not the piety or the 
moral worth of these gentlemen ; I am told they were respectable, 
and pious men. But they were men, and * they kindled in a common 
blaze.' And now, Sir, I must be suffered to remark, that at that awful 
and melancholy period of our national history, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts, who now manifests so great a devotion to the Union 
and so much anxiety lest it should be endangered from the South, 



HAYNE'S REPLY TO WEBSTER 251 

was 'with his brethren in Israel.' He saw all these things passing 
before his eyes ; he heard those sentiments uttered all around him. 
I do not charge that gentleman with any participation in those acts, 
or with approving those sentiments. But I will ask why, if he was 
animated by the same sentiments then which he now professes, 
if he can 'augur disunion at a distance and snuff rebellion in every 
tainted breeze,' why did he not at that day exert his great talents 
and acknowledged influence with the political associates by whom 
he was surrounded (and who looked up to him for guidance and 
direction) in allaying this general excitement; in pointing out to 
his deluded friends the value of the Union; in instructing them, 
that instead of looking ' to some prophet to lead them out of the 
land of Egypt,' they should become reconciled to their brethren, and 
unite with them in the support of a just and necessary war. Sir, 
the gentleman must excuse me for saying that if the records of our 
country afforded any evidence that he had pursued such a course ; 
if we could find it recorded in the history of those times, that like 
the immortal Dexter, he had breasted that mighty torrent which 
was sweeping before it all that was great and valuable, in our 
political institutions; if, like him, he had stood by his country, 
in opposition to his party, Sir, we would, like little children, listen to 
his precepts and abide by his counsels." To answer this was im- 
possible ; to survive it one must needs be a Webster. In conclusion, 
Hayne addressed himself to the argument on which nullification 
was based, viz., " that if the Federal Government in all or any of its 
departments are to prescribe the limits of its own authority; and 
the States are bound to submit to the decision and are not to be 
allowed to exercise and decide for themselves when the barriers 
of the Constitution shall be overleaped, this is practically 'a Govern- 
ment without limitation of powers' ; the States are at once reduced 
to mere petty corporations, and the people are entirely at your 
mercy." He supported it upon the Republican doctrine of '98, 



252 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

and the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, quoting also the reso- 
lutions of 1809 passed at Faneuil Hall, Boston; but losing sight of 
the more important ones of 181 1 ; and he leaves Webster to explain, 
if he can, his own allusion to the Embargo Act as "dangerous to 
the being of the Government," as would be illustrated by "consti- 
tutional opposition." But to Hayne's practical mind, something 
more he feels is necessary, and he adds : " The South is acting on a 
principle she has always held sound — resistance to unauthorized 
taxation. . . . Sir, if in acting on these high motives, if animated 
by that ardent love of liberty which has always been the most 
prominent trait in the Southern character, we should be hurried 
beyond the bounds of cold and calculating prudence, who is there 
with one noble and generous sentiment in his bosom that would not 
be disposed in the language of Burke to exclaim, 'You must pardon 
something to the spirit of liberty ' ? " 



CHAPTER XIII 

Webster's rejoinder to the reply 

It was now the turn of him, whom history names as the greatest 
orator of our country, to sustain the thread of the debate. It had 
taken Hayne, rising the day after the delivery of Webster's assault 
upon him, with regard to the public lands, two congressional days, 
or about four hours, to complete his reply. He had demolished 
Webster's arguments with regard to the public lands ; but he had 
found himself unavoidably drawn into a defence of nullification. 
Webster's first speech was that portion of his force with which he 
aimed to contain the enemy and draw him from the original ground 
of the discussion to this latter subject. This he had accomplished, 
and the way was now open for his real speech ; but he had scarcely 
anticipated such a demolition of his own first effort, and he there- 
fore felt it necessary to attempt to knit it into some semblance of 
argument again before absolutely abandoning it. Also he distinctly 
felt not a few of the thrusts inflicted by his opponent and de- 
sired to repay them in kind, which he was, indeed, quite capable 
of accomplishing. Yet the very opening of his speech is a great com- 
pliment to Hayne: the tone of superiority, of easy confidence, is 
gone, and we have a man of immense power, it is true, and wonder- 
ful address ; but one nevertheless, for all his force, advancing with 
the greatest caution and deliberation. He feels that it is necessary 
for him to exert every effort of which he is capable, and even to 
gloss over some unanswerable points with palpable misstatements. 
His condition could not have been better stated than in his own 

253 



254 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

words: "When the mariner has been tossed for many days, in 
thick weather and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself 
of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take 
his latitude and ascertain how far the elements have driven him 
from his true course." Then, after asking and obtaining the read- 
ing of the resolution, he comments on it as follows : "We have thus 
heard, Sir, what the resolution is, which is actually before us ; and 
it will readily occur to every one, that it is almost the only subject 
about which something has not been said in the speech running 
through two days by which the Senate has been entertained by 
the gentleman from South Carolina. ... He has spoken of every- 
thing but the public lands. They have escaped his notice." 

This was not only a misstatement, but a very absurd one; for 
not alone Hayne's speech, but his own subsequent efforts to meet 
the arguments on that point, disclose the absolute lack of truth of 
the charge. He then finds fault with Hayne for refusing to post- 
pone the debate, and makes much of the latter's alleged use of the 
word "rankle." He disclaims any feeling against Hayne, although 
in the very next breath he makes mysterious allusion to those 
"passages" which "it is true had occurred since our acquaintance 
in this body, which I could have wished might have been other- 
wise, but I had used philosophy and forgotten them." Playing still 
with the word "rankling," and with some skill, he rather ostenta- 
tiously boasts of his adversary's thrusts, that "whether his shafts 
were or were not dipped in that which would have caused ran- 
kling, there was not, as it happened, strength enough in the bow to 
bring them to their mark. . . . They will not be found fixed and 
quivering in the object at which they were aimed." This is un- 
doubtedly a pretty bit of phrasing, but not entirely convincing. 
His play upon Hayne's charge, that he had slept on his (Hayne's) 
speech, is a specimen of true wit. His answer to the inquiry why 
he attacked Hayne instead of Benton, is not worthy of him ; but 



WEBSTER'S REJOINDER TO THE REPLY 255 

he seizes upon the intimation that it was from fear of Benton, and 
makes it the occasion of a spirited rebuke to Hayne and a defi- 
ance of both Benton and himself. By overlaboring this, however, 
with the angry declaration that "if provoked into crimination and 
recrimination, the honorable member may perhaps find that in that 
contest there will be blows to take as well as blows to give ; that 
others can state comparisons as significant at least as his own, and 
that his impunity may, perhaps, demand of him whatever powers 
of taunt and sarcasm he may possess," he disproves his previous 
boast that there was not strength enough in the bow to bring his 
adversary's shafts to the mark. His reply, also, to the insinuation 
concerning the coalition, while cutting in the extreme and bitterly 
scornful, is too abusive to permit a belief in the absence of feeling 
claimed. But his attempt to reanimate poor Nathan Dane is a 
feeble performance: "A worthy man, Mr. Dane. . . . Sir, if 
the honorable member has never before heard of Mr. Dane, I am 
sorry for it. It shows him less acquainted with the public men of 
the country than I had Supposed. Let me tell him, however, that 
a sneer from him at the mention of the name of Mr. Dane is in bad 
taste." This is eminently proper, but a far cry from Solon and 
Lycurgus. From this point he moves on to the Hartford Con- 
vention, of which he declares he knows nothing and has never read 
its journal; but is nevertheless quite sure that other conventions 
"have gone a whole bar's length beyond it." So far, however, as a 
spirit can be discovered in its proceedings, in any degree resembling 
that which was avowed and justified in those other conventions, he 
would be as ready "to bestow on them reprehension and censure." 
But whatever force there was in this, was most materially weakened 
by the stinging cut aimed, in a preceding passage, at the dis- 
coverer who had ventured to reveal such in his section: "However 
uninformed the honorable member may be of characters and oc- 
currences at the North, it would seem that he has at his elbow 



256 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

on this occasion some high-minded and lofty spirit, some mag- 
nanimous and true-hearted monitor, possessing the means of local 
knowledge and ready to supply the honorable member with every- 
thing, down to forgotten and moth-eaten two-penny pamphlets, 
which may be used to the disadvantage of his own country." 
This was a great slip; it was yielding to Hayne ground for his 
contention, that his adversary was inclined to overlook what hap- 
pened in his own section, while so ready to rebuke the South. 
Passing on to a consideration of the subject which he had declared 
in his first speech was the main occasion of his addressing the 
Senate, apparently now oblivious of the charge that Hayne had 
"spoken of everything but the public lands, — they escaped his 
notice, — "he critically considers the latter's argument, elaborates 
the pointed application from the speech delivered in the British 
Parliament, tells us by whom it was made; but maintains, "Sir, 
this fervid eloquence of the British speaker, just when and where 
it was uttered, and fit to remain an exercise for the schools, is not 
a little out of place when it is brought thence to be applied here to 
the conduct of our own country towards her own citizens." 

Then he defends himself rather laboriously from the charge of 
inconsistency in his present and past positions as to the fund to be 
derived from the sale of the public lands, and by dint of repeated 
and unblushing misstatements of Hayne's argument, already ex- 
hibited, succeeds in patching up something which may stand, if the 
speech of his adversary is not read. 

With regard to the brilliant passage in which Hayne had eulogized 
him for the part he had played in 1824, his comment is mild, as it 
had to be: "He pays undeserved compliment to my speech in 1824; 
but this is to raise me high, that my fall, as he would have it, in 
1828, may be the more signal." Yet his exculpation is not without 
force. Reciting the history of tariff legislation, in which, at the 
outset, he certainly opposed such more strenuously than either 



WEBSTER'S REJOINDER TO THE REPLY 257 

Lowndes or Calhoun, he declares it became the law of the land, and 
inquires: "What, then, were we to do? Our only option was 
either to fall in with this settled course of public policy, and ac- 
commodate ourselves to it, as well as we could, or to embrace the 
South Carolina doctrine, and talk of nullifying the statute by 
State interference." The sincerity of this claim, however, is af- 
fected by the entry in John Quincy Adams's diary of May 7, 1828, 
before quoted. Referring again to the Hartford Convention, he 
takes much stronger ground, and inquires of Hayne whether he 
referred to it for authority or for a topic of reproach, and he makes 
the strong point that in Hayne's eyes: "The thing itself, then, is 
a precedent ; the time and manner of it only subject of censure. 
Now, Sir, I go much farther on this point than the honorable 
member. Supposing . . . that the Hartford Convention assembled 
for any such purpose as breaking up the Union . . , then I say 
the meeting itself was disloyal and obnoxious to censure, whether 
held in time of peace or time of war, or under whatever circum- 
stances." This was the true presentation, and if he could only 
have pointed to some such declaration at the time from himself, 
he would have had Hayne at his mercy; but that still remained 
unexplained. To cure the trouble, he resorted to a challenge 
which it is true Hayne failed to meet, from a lack of knowledge 
which can scarcely be attributed to Webster, much nearer the scene 
and within a year or two of his entrance into Congress. " Let us 
follow up, Sir," he says, "this New England opposition to the 
embargo laws . . . till we discern the principle, which controlled 
and governed New England throughout the whole course of that 
opposition. . . . There was heat, there was anger in her politi- 
cal feelings ... Be it so; but did she propose the Carolina 
remedy? Did she threaten to interfere by State authority to annul 
the laws of the Union? That is the question for the gentleman's 
consideration." 



258 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

She certainly did ; but unfortunately for Hayne, at a date when 
he was so occupied that he had probably no time to note anything 
beyond the press of his duties, accumulated by his approaching 
examination for the bar and Mr. Cheves's departure to Congress. 
The Faneuil Hall resolutions of March 30, 181 1, have already been 
pointed out. They declared the act of March 2, 181 1, ^^ ex- post 
facto and void, unjust and tyrannical," to be remedied by "the 
election of such men to the various offices in the State government 
as will oppose by peaceable but firm measures the execution of 
laws, which, if persisted in, must and will be resisted." ^ Between 
this and the Carolina remedy there is not a shade of difference. 
Webster may not have known of these resolutions, he was perhaps 
not at that time an inhabitant of Massachusetts ; but why they are 
ignored by the historians of our country is a question for the con- 
science of such. With great dignity and propriety, Webster had 
meanwhile discussed Hayne's allusion to his having conceded consti- 
tutional scruples to the South with regard to internal improvements, 
pointing out with justice that he had gone out of his way when pre- 
senting the petition of the South Carolina Rail Road and Canal Com- 
pany for government subscriptions, to allude to the scruples of the 
South Carolina senator as the reason it was intrusted to him, and 
contrasting his action with insinuations cast upon his section by the 
latter. But by this time he had reached that portion of his argument 
which had been his ultimate aim from the outset : "The great ques- 
tion, whose prerogative it is to decide on the constitutionality or 
unconstitutionality of the laws ... I say the right of a State to 
annul a law of Congress cannot be maintained but on the ground of 
the inalienable right of man to resist oppression ; that is to say, upon 
the ground of revolution. I admit that there is an ultimate violent 
remedy above the Constitution, which may be resorted to when a 
revolution is to be justified. But I do not admit that under the Con- 

' Courier, April 23, 181 1. 



WEBSTER'S REJOINDER TO THE REPLY 259 

stitution and in conformity with it that there is any mode in which 
a State Government, as a member of the Union, can interfere and 
stop the progress of the Central Government by force of her own 
laws under any circumstances whatever." But this strong state- 
ment he immediately weakens with the following unnecessary con- 
cession in the course of his inquiry into the source of the power of 
the central government. "Whose agent is it?" he asks. "If 
the Government of the United States be the agent of the State 
Governments, then they may control it ; if it is the agent of the people, 
then the People alone can control it, restrain it, modify it or reform 
it." This left a gap in his line, into which his alert adversary 
later pressed with resistless force. There is an argument that the 
general government was established by the people of the United 
States, and not by the States; for it may be maintained that the 
phraseology of the preamble to the Constitution indicates this and, 
that if established by the States, it should read: We the peoples 
of the United States; but even if established by the States, as a 
stronger argument indicates, that does not carry with it the control 
Webster concedes, for in the scope of its agency its act would be 
the act of its principals. Webster does however show, with great 
power, the unreasonableness of a government established for the 
whole Union, with powers subject to thirteen or twenty-four inter- 
pretations from that number of popular bodies, none of which were 
bound to respect the decisions of the others and each at liberty to 
give a new decision on every new election of its own members. 
Following he wittily ridiculed the progress of nullification and showed 
that it must lead to direct collision between force and force, and then 
gliding easily and naturally into his matchless peroration, he closed 
in a passage of such splendor that it swept up and destroyed, in its 
consuming fire every failure, which had preceded it, and made him 
immortal. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE DEBATE CLOSED AND THE RECORD SET STRAIGHT 

When at a late hour Webster ended his grand peroration and 
Hayne arose to close the debate, the latter was undoubtedly affected 
by it. He was of too noble and generously patriotic a nature not 
to have sympathized deeply with the sentiments so matchlessly 
expressed. As a trained and skilful debater, he realized clearly 
that upon every point, save the important one of nullification, Web- 
ster had failed to make any distinct impression on his (Hayne's) 
powerful reply to the first assault; nor could he fail to note that 
despite his opponent's denial, many of his own shafts had found 
lodgment in and been keenly felt by that adversary. Even on the 
point of nullification, for which Hayne had made more of an 
apology than an argument, he saw that Webster, in his powerful 
attack, had given him a point or two which a skilful debater could 
utilize; but the peroration was unassailable. Yet it had become 
the speech, and sweeping every thought into one grand emotion, 
threatened to ingulf the argument. How could it be met? He 
should have realized that it could not be met at all; but in the 
ardor of the contest and very probably from another and very differ- 
ent motive, an indisposition to be considered as in opposition to it, 
he violated a cardinal rule of oratory and attempted to equal it. 
The tone of his second speech is as marked in contrast to his first 
as Webster's was, but in the exactly opposite direction. The irri- 
tation he felt at the attack had passed, and it is gentle throughout. 
He feels that there is no further occasion for sarcasm, that his first 

260 



DEBATE CLOSED AND RECORD SET STRAIGHT 261 

speech dealt sufficiently with that species of defence and cut suf- 
ficiently deep; his whole aim, therefore, is to keep the record 
straight, to utilize what slips may help him concerning nullification 
and temper the force of his adversary's magnificent peroration. We 
can almost feel the subsidence of heat and passion as he begins : 
"I do not rise at this late hour, Mr. President, to go at large into 
the controverted questions between the Senator from Massachu- 
setts and myself; but merely to correct some very gross errors into 
which he has fallen, and to afford explanation on some points which, 
after what has fallen from that gentleman, may perhaps be con- 
sidered as requiring explanation. The gentleman has attempted 
through the whole course of his argument to throw upon me the 
blame of having provoked this discussion. Though standing 
himself at the very head and source of this angry controversy, 
which has flowed from him down to me, he insists that I have 
troubled the waters. In order to give color to his charge (wholly 
unfounded. Sir, as every gentleman of this body will bear witness), 
he alludes to my excitement when I first rose to answer the gentle- 
man after he had made his attack upon the South. He charges 
me with having then confessed that I had something rankling in 
my bosom which I desired to discharge. Sir, I have no recollection 
of having used that word. If it did escape me, however, in the 
excitement of the moment, it was indicative not of any personal 
hostility towards that Senator, — for in truth, Sir, I felt none, — 
but proceeded from a sensibility which could not but be excited 
by what I had a right to consider as an unprovoked and most 
unwarrantable attack upon the South through me. The gentle- 
man boasts he has escaped unhurt in the conflict. The shaft, it 
seems, was shot by too feeble an arm to reach its destination. Sir, 
I am glad to hear this. Judging from the action of the gentleman, I 
had feared that the arrow had penetrated even more deeply than I 
could have wished. From the beating of his breast and the tone and 



262 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

manner of the gentleman, I should fear he is most sorely wounded. 
In a better spirit, however, I will say I hope his wounds may heal 
kindly and leave no scars behind ; and let me assure the gentleman 
that, however deeply the arrow may have penetrated, its point was 
not envenomed — it was shot in fair and manly fight, and with the 
twang of the bow have fled the feelings which impelled it. The 
gentleman indignantly repels the charge of having avoided the 
Senator from Missouri (Mr. Benton) and selected me as his ad- 
versary from any apprehension of being overmatched. Sir, when 
I found the gentleman passing over in silence the argument of the 
Senator from Missouri, which had charged the East with hostility 
towards the West, and directing his artillery against me, who had 
made no such charge, I had a right to inquire into the causes 
of so extraordinary a proceeding. I suggested some as probable, 
and among them that to which the gentleman takes such strong 
exception. Sir, has he now given any sufficient reason for the ex- 
traordinary course of which I have complained? At one moment 
he tells us he ' did not hear the whole of the argument of the gentle- 
man from Missouri,' and again that having found a responsible 
indorser of the bill, he did not think proper to pursue the drawer. 
Well, Sir, if the gentleman answered the arguments which he did 
not hear, why attribute them to me, whom he did hear and by whom 
they certainly were not urged? If he was determined to pursue 
the parties to the bill, why attempt to throw the responsibility on 
me who was neither the drawer nor the indorser? Let me once 
more. Sir, put this matter on its true footing. I will not be forced 
to assume a position in which I have not chosen to place myself. 
Sir, I disclaim any intention whatever in my original remarks 
on the public lands to impute to the East hostility towards the 
West. I imputed none. I did not utter one word to that effect. 
I said nothing which could be tortured into an attack upon the 
East. I did not mention the ' accursed tariff' — a phrase which the 



DEBATE CLOSED AND RECORD SET STRAIGHT 263 

gentleman has put into my mouth. I did not even impute the 
policy of Mr. Rush to New England. In alluding to that policy, 
I noticed its source and spoke of it as I thought it deserved. Sir, 
I am aware that a gentleman who arises without premeditation, 
to throw out his ideas on a question before the House, may use 
expressions of the force and extent of which he may at the time not 
be fully aware. I should not therefore rely so confidently on my 
own recollections but for the circumstance that I have not found 
one gentleman who heard my remarks (except the gentleman from 
Massachusetts, himself) who supposed that one word had fallen 
from my lips that called for a reply of the tone and character of 
that which the gentleman from Massachusetts thought proper to 
pronounce — not one who supposed that I had thrown out any 
imputations against the East, or justly subjected myself or the South 
to rebuke, unless, indeed, the principles for which I contended 
were so monstrous as to demand unmeasured reprobation. Now, 
Sir, what were those principles? I have already shown that, 
whether sound or unsound, they are separated by a ' hair's breadth' 
from those contended for by the gentleman himself, in 1825, and 
therefore that he of all men had the least right to take exception to 
them." 

After a strong argument, to show that the Constitution was the 
work of the States and a compact between them and the United 
States, Hayne took the position that, upon a difference between 
the parties to the contract, one party could not decide, but the de- 
cision should be referred to a convention of the States. 

Authorities of weight have sustained Webster's criticism of this, 
on the ground that the creature of a contract could not be a party 
to it; but this is a condition which seems to arise very naturally 
in the creation of a joint stock company upon incorporation, and 
why not in a government? There remained but the peroration, 
and of it Hayne said: "The gentleman has made an eloquent 



264 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

appeal to our hearts in favor of the Union. Sir, I cordially respond 
to that appeal. I will yield to no gentleman in sincere attachment 
to the Union ; but it is a Union founded on the Constitution, and 
not such a Union as the gentleman would give us that is dear to 
my heart. If this is to become one great, consolidated Govern- 
ment, swallowing up the rights of the States and the liberties of the 
citizens ' riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman and beg- 
gared yeomanry,' the Union will not be worth preserving. Sir, 
it is because South Carolina loves the Union and would preserve 
it forever that she is opposing now, while there is hope, those 
usurpations of the Federal Government which, once established, 
will sooner or later tear this Union into fragments. The gentle- 
man is for marching under a banner studded all over with stars and 
bearing the inscription Liberty and Union. I had thought, Sir 
the gendeman would have borne instead a standard displaying 
in its ample folds a brilliant sun, extending its golden rays from 
the centre to the extremities, in the brightness of whose beams the 
litde stars hide their diminished heads. Ours, Sir, is the banner 
of the Constitution, the twenty-four stars are there in all their 
undiminished lustre, on it is inscribed : — Liberty, the Constitution, 
Union. We offer up our fervent prayers to the Father of Mercies, 
that it may continue to wave for ages yet to come over a Free, 
Happy and United People." 

With this, the discussion may be said to have closed ; for Web- 
ster, in dismissing it in the few words with which he elaborated 
his weakest point, that the government was not a compact, left 
his argument hanging on a broken hinge, as John Quincy Adams 
later expressed it. 

In his extremely fair consideration of this debate, Paul H, 
Hayne, whose opinion of " Webster's Reply" is that, " Considered 
from an artistic and rhetorical point of view, it stands unequalled 
except by some of the finest utterances of Burke," quotes the 



DEBATE CLOSED AND RECORD SET STRAIGHT 265 

following contemporaneous account of it from the Philadelphia 
Gazette: "But no report can possibly give you an idea of the deep 
interest of the scene and the peculiar manner of the two eminent 
and eloquent men who were contending for the mastery. There 
was much of personality which it is impossible to transmit to paper, 
or even to arrest upon the memory; a great deal of the dumb 
show of eloquence, the expression of the eye and the significant 
gesture, which to be appreciated in their proper force must be seen. 
. . . The opinions as to the victory in this strife are of course as 
much divided as are the parties whose different views of the Con- 
stitution have been severally maintained, and by worthy champions. 
The opposition party generally contend that Mr. Webster over- 
threw Mr. Hayne ; while on the other hand the result is triumphantly 
hailed by the friends of the administration as a decisive victory 
over the Eastern giant. They say that the Southern orator is more 
than a match for the New England lawyer. Not inclining decidedly 
to either of these opinions, I think those two words fitly character- 
ize the eminence of either. Mr, Hayne is truly an orator, full of 
vehemence, eloquence and passion, a correct and powerful rea- 
soner, with a most vivid imagination, which is under the guidance 
of severe study and correct taste, graceful in person and action 
and with a most musical voice. Mr. Webster, on the other hand, 
is a lawyer and a great lawyer, one v/ho has at his immediate 
command all the logic and all the wariness of a cool and practised 
debater of extensive reading and much learning, of perfect self- 
possession and always master of the subject, or at least of all the 
arguments on his own side of the subject, and ready with coolness 
and circumspection to seize rapidly upon the weak points of his 
adversary. As a speaker he is calm, collected and dignified, 
sometimes energetic, but never impassioned or vehement. Hfs 
voice is clear and firm, and he manages it with much ability; his 
gestures are few and not always graceful, but generally forcible 



266 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

and impressive. A material contrast between these two men is 
in the expression and mobility of their features. Mr. Webster's 
countenance is generally cold, severe and impressive, which makes 
the occasional sarcasm, when accompanied by a sneer or a smile, 
exceedingly effective. The face of Mr. Hayne, on the contrary, 
is constantly in play, every varying emotion rushes to his counte- 
nance, and is there distinctly legible. I do not think that Mr. 
Hayne completely overthrew Mr. Webster, but I am decidedly 
of the opinion that Mr. Webster did not overthrow Mr. Hayne." ^ 
It is to be noted that in this account from Philadelphia, it is stated 
that '' the result is triumphantly hailed by the friends of the admin- 
istration (the Jackson administration) as a decisive victory over the 
Eastern giant." Without giving any authority, Parton narrates a 
conversation between Jackson and Major Lewis, in which Hayne 
is described by the latter as being demolished; while the former 
says that is what he expected. In 1833, however, the correspond- 
ent of the New York Courier and Enquirer and the editor of the 
Augusta Chronicle both declared that they had seen a letter from 
the President to Hayne complimenting him on his speech in the 
most extravagant terms, two members of Congress testifying 
openly to the same fact on the floor of Congress.^ In addition to 
this, the speech was published and distributed through portions 
of New England, which would not have taken place had it not 
been thought to have had the approval of the head of the party. 
Later, when nullification forced the reduction of the duties, with 
an accompanying force bill as a warning against a repetition of it, 

• Paul H. Hayne, "Hayne and Legare," pp. 53-61. 

' Daniel of Kentucky "said that at the time of Hayne's speeches in the Senate, 
both the President and Senator Grundy had approved the position of South Caro- 
lina as enunciated by her senator. In a letter to Mr. Hayne the former had ex- 
pressed himself in terms as strong as language could afford. . . ." Carson 
averred: "The President expressed his approval of the speech to me in person. 
Daniel said he knew, from documents emanating from the President." — Harris, 
"Sectional Struggle," p. 331. 



DEBATE CLOSED AND RECORD SET STRAIGHT 267 

public sentiment veered, and Webster's effort and the man were both 
unduly magnified, until, at the close of his life, running counter to 
the sentiment of his own section, in his love for that same Union, 
he was crowned with "Ichabod." In his long and brilliant 
career, however, this contest with Hayne seems to have had a 
particular interest for him, and eleven years after the death of 
the latter he was still dressing the points and making more 
brilliant the peroration which had saved him on the whole con- 
troversy from the defeat which he had sustained in part. 



CHAPTER XV 

SOME NORTHERN ESTIMATES OF HAYNE. CHARLESTON'S AP- 
PRECIATION OF WEBSTER. THE MECHANICS OF CHARLES- 
TON. THEIR BELIEF IN THE UNION AS WELL AS THE 
LOCOMOTIVE 

Considering the political situation as it was at the time of 
this great debate, the student of history will make some surprising 
discoveries. Mention has been made of Hayne's phenomenal 
popularity in the State just prior to it; his unopposed reelection to 
the Senate in 1828, and his elevation, in 1830, to the position of 
Major-General of Militia in January. This position in the South 
was no sinecure; but from the nature of the State governments 
at that time a coveted distinction, for which there were lively 
contests. The State was at this time pressing forward with great 
earnestness in her effort to solve the railroad puzzle, and as she 
advanced to the solution, pari passu with the development of 
nullification, it has been suggested that it was a sympathetic de- 
velopment. It is true that Calhoun appeared quite alive to the 
benefits to be derived from the extension of railroads, as soon as 
they had been demonstrated as practicable transportation agencies; 
but he never seems to have considered them as more than adjuncts 
to water ways along great commercial lines. Hayne had a juster 
idea of their immense value, and possibly, as has been pointed out 
before, is entitled to the very great distinction of having anticipated 
by six or seven years the suggestion in America of operating them 
by steam. And with regard to these two men, one put into practi- 
cal operation and won a great political victory by means of nulli- 

268 



SOME NORTHERN ESTJiTjriiES OF HAYNE 269 

fication; while the other, called to the most dangerous and re- 
sponsible position, guided the ship of state with rare discretion 
and ability through that short but tumultuous passage. In ad- 
dition, it may be claimed that the sentiment of the State was un- 
doubtedly for nullification, so that not only the leaders but also the 
mass were for it. But that is not conclusive The centre of the 
State was for nullification, but the extremes at Greenville and the 
Peedee section against, and at Charleston where the railroad 
movement was, the opposing forces almost balanced each other. 
Indeed, in the city of Charleston, Webster's peroration so endeared 
him to many, that it drew together the aristocratic Federalists, 
and the Democratic mechanics who had up to this time constituted 
the bone and sinew of the Republican party there. At the annual 
banquet of the American Friendly Society in Charleston, in Feb- 
ruary, 1830, Webster was toasted as "a. true patriot " ; while neither 
Calhoun nor Hayne were mentioned. A little later, however, a 
writer above the signature of "Old Times" criticises Hayne' s 
"decency" in attacking "Federals," by whose votes, it is declared, 
he overcame Senator Smith. In the country at large, how- 
ever, Hayne' s speech had unquestionably increased his fame, 
the comments of many papers, opposed to his view, indicating 
their appreciation of the man.^ By the Boston merchants the 
speech was so highly thought of that it was by them printed on 
satin and presented to the Senator ; ^ while in Maine, the Demo- 
cratic members of the Legislature, in addition to their thanks, 
ordered the publication and distribution of 2000 copies in pamphlet 
form, being impressed with the correctness of the doctrine it con- 
tained and designating it " as an able, fearless, unanswerable 

' Washington Spectator, Ulster Centinel, New York; New York Gazette, Baltimore 
Patriot. City Gazette, Feb. 26, March 4, 13, 1830. 

' Letter from Washington Alston Hayne, grandson of R. Y. Hayne, May 23, 1904. 
Simeon Pratt, of Maine, had the speech printed on satin and sent to Hayne. The 
Eastern Argus, quoted by Charleston Mercury, June 30, 1830. 



270 RO±>^ .T Y. HAYNE 

defence of the democracy of New England." ^ In justice, how- 
ever, to all parties, it should be remembered that nullification, as 
Hayne had apologized for it, had seemed to him to have been to a 
certain extent recognized by Jackson, as he had quoted him, in 
his speech : "I regard an appeal to the source of power in cases 
of real doubt as among the most sacred of all our obligations." 
But if Hayne was able to draw encouragement from these various 
sources, there was none to be drawn from the declarations of his 
colleague. Senator Smith had also participated in the discussion, 
delivering a very strong and remarkable speech. Quite temper- 
ate for him, and with the exception of crediting his colleague 
with a policy concerning the public lands not warranted by Hayne's 
speech, for which he was mildly corrected by the latter, there was 
nothing in the speech, critical as it was, which Hayne could well 
object to. It was, however, a direct attack on Calhoun's party. 
It was egotistical ; for it was in substance a claim that the speaker 
was himself the representative of the State Rights school, and 
that he had been such when Calhoun was for a liberal construction 
of the Constitution. He showed that in the election, which placed 
Adams in power, there had not been two great parties opposed to 
each other's politics; but four parties centring around the per- 
sonalities of individuals, all of whom were against State Rights, 
except the party supporting Crawford, with the elimination of 
which there was none, until the attempt, as he characterized it, 
to build up one, rushing to an extreme beyond the old State Rights 
party. He opposed nullification as impractical and dangerous. 
He looked, in agreement with Grundy of Tennessee, to a redress 
of grievances, which he asserted did exist, by an effort through 
concerted actions of the States aggrieved, nor did he fail to point 
out, that, however he might speak, Benton's vote had ever been for 
the tariff. 

* Charleston Mercury, March 15, 1830. 



SOME NORTHERN ESTIMATES OF HAYNE 2/1 

While politics and the politicians were thus readjusting them- 
selves, a certain class in Charleston were proving their faith by 
their works. Three toasts offered by the mechanics of Charleston 
at the annual celebration of their society in this year give us an 
excellent idea of what an admirable set of men and estimable 
citizens they were at that time. Other classes of citizens might 
be still looking askance at that fearfully and wonderfully made 
article, the locomotive, built upon the design of one of their number, 
Miller, and now in the city on exhibition ; while comforting them- 
selves with the reflection that the railroad might yet be operated 
by wind, as "with a steady breeze the car sailed throughout the 
day" on the lot where experiments were being conducted; but not 
so the Charleston mechanics ; they believed in the locomotive. It is 
a pity that all their toasts cannot be here inserted, they are so full of 
pith ; but four of them, at least, are historical items of value : " 6. The 
perpetuity of the Union of the United States, ii. The memory 
of Oliver Evans, the American mechanic, whose prophecy of 1786 is 
likely to be fulfilled in 1830. 12. The locomotive engine. Favored 
by a proper level and a well-laid rail, it will soon bring Boston, 
Baltimore, Charleston and New Orleans into neighborhood and 
friendly intimacy. 13. The mechanics of Charleston. Give them 
but the patronage, and they will compete in the execution of their 
work with the world." ^ Nor was this last any idle boast; for 
within three years Dotterer proved it with the locomotive he pro- 
duced from a Charleston shop, the work of Charleston craftsmen, 
equal to anything from the North or England. The forces, there- 
fore, which in the main were behind this industrial movement in 
South Carolina, were opposed to nullification, and for a short time 
blocked it, and if outside of that State one-half the effort had 
been made to redress the real grievances of the people of the State, 
which were made as soon as nullification forced action, it is doubtful 

* Ibid., Feb. 4, 1830. 



fl 



272 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

if any man or set of men would have had strength enough to push 
the State into this extreme act. But until this threat was made, 
not the slightest effort was observable. 

During the remainder of the session of 1829-30, Hayne and 
Webster did not again come into collision with each other. Hayne, 
as chairman of the Naval Committee, had to fight through 
two measures, which he carried by large majorities, and Webster 
seems to have tabled a bill looking to the creation of a department 
to be presided over by the Attorney-General. 

In the "Abridgment of the Debates of Congress" there is set out 
for April the 29th of this year a most comprehensive and eloquent 
attack upon the Pension Laws by Hayne, from which it would 
appear that upon this subject he made two great speeches, — one in 
1830 and one in 1832. Asserting his reverence and affection for 
the men of the Revolution, he yet declared in this speech of 1830, 
that "when the attempt is made to thrust into the company of the 
war-worn veterans of the Revolution a mighty host, many of whom 
never even saw an enemy, when a door is to be opened wide enough 
to admit mere sunshine and holiday soldiers, the hangers on of the 
camp, men of straw, substitutes who never enlisted until after the 
preliminaries of peace were signed: when, after having omitted 
to pay the debt of gratitude really due to the honest veterans who 
toiled through all the hardships and dangers of the great conflict, 
you now propose to give the rewards earned by their blood, with 
so profuse a hand as to enable all who ever approached the camp, 
to share them, I must be permitted to say that neither my sense 
of justice nor my devotion to Revolutionary men will suffer me 
to lend my aid to the consummation of the injustice." He held 
that: "The people of the United States, even before the Revolu- 
tion, had imbibed a deep-rooted and settled opposition to the sys- 
tem of pensions. In the country from which they had emigrated, 
they found it operating as a system of favoritism, by which those 



SOME NORTHERN ESTIMATES OF HAYNE 273 

in authority made provision, at the pubhc expense, for their friends 
and followers. In Great Britain, pensions have long been used as 
the ready means of providing for the favored few at the expense 
of the many. This system affords the most convenient means of 
appropriating the industry and capital of the laboring classes for 
the support of those drones in society, the fruges nati consumere 
who occupy so large a space in all refined, civilized and Christian 
countries." After alluding to the salutary "prejudice against the 
system almost universally prevailing," Hayne proceeded to show 
"that up to 18 1 8 the principle of our pension system was dis- 
ability, a wise and safe principle, limited in its extent and almost 
incapable of abuse." Tracing the development, he showed how, 
from disability incurred in service, it passed to all in reduced 
circumstances who had served for nine months. He discussed 
the alarm of the country, when thirty thousand had at once applied, 
and the consequent act of 1820 against frauds, to stem the rapidly 
rising tide. Then analyzing the act and amendment before the 
Senate, "supported on the avowed ground, not to change the 
pension system but merely to correct some misconstructions," 
he demonstrated that the scope of the legislation was to change, 
to extend and widen the operation. He then showed the tendency 
to raise the limit of the fortune excluding participants and the 
consequent increase of numbers on the roll. "But, Sir," he ex- 
claimed, "there are higher considerations connected with the ques- 
tion than any I have yet urged. I consider the bill as a branch of 
a great system, calculated and intended to create and perpetuate 
a permanent charge upon the Treasury, with a view to delay the 
payment of the public debt and postpone indefinitely the claims 
of the people for a reduction of taxes, when the debt shall be finally 
extinguished. It is an important link in the chain, by which the 
American System party hope to bind the people now and forever 
to the payment of the enormous duties deemed necessary for 



274 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the protection of domestic manufactures. . . . We have schemes 
for colonization, education, distribution of surplus revenues and 
many others, all admirably calculated to promote the great end, — 
the absorption of the public revenue. But, Sir, of all the measures 
devised, this grand pension system got up last year and revived 
during the present session is by far the most specious, the most 
ingeniously contrived and the best calculated for the accomplish- 
ment of the object. Here gentlemen are supplied with a fine 
topic for declamation, — 'gratitude for Revolutionary services,' 
'the claims of the poor soldier,' etc., — these are the topics which, 
it is imagined, will carry away the feelings of the people and recon- 
cile them to a measure which must unquestionably establish a 
permanent charge upon the Treasury to an enormous amount, and 
thereby furnish a plausible excuse for keeping up the system of 
high duties. . . . But there is one fact which speaks volumes on this 
subject. How comes it that this spirit of gratitude for Revolution- 
ary services should have slumbered for fifty years ? . . . Sir, the 
reason is obvious. The period for the final extinction of the public 
debt is at hand . . . the existence of a surplus must by some 
means or other be prevented ; and this must be accomplished with- 
out any reduction of duties. The friends of the system have there- 
fore gone forth upon the highways, and 'all are bidden to the 
feast.'" 

Hayne's reputation in the nation now stood very high. To 
cite comments of the Northern press, the correspondent of the 
Baltimore Patriot declared that, next to Webster, he was the 
strongest man in the Senate; the Ulster Centinel, that "he always 
commands attention and seldom fails to convince, that South Caro- 
lina can well be proud of him"; and the New York Gazette gave 
a most interesting description of the man, his mental and moral 
qualities, his manner and his force in debate, in the following 
sketch: "To describe the peculiarities of my present subject is 



'ik.i 



SOME NORTHERN ESTIMATES OF HAYNE 275 

a more difficult task than might be supposed by those who have 
been in the habit of Ustening to Mr. Hayne. He is one of those 
speakers who so generally enlist the feelings of their hearers by 
the contagious power of his own enthusiasm that even at a distance, 
and after a long interval of time, I find it difficult so far to set 
aside the impressions produced by his oratory as to deal fairly 
with his capacity, and detail with an unprejudiced mind his quali- 
ties as an orator and a legislator. In some of the high essentials of 
eloquence, Mr. Hayne has few superiors. In fervency and gen- 
erous enthusiasm, few equals. Although the writer of these lines 
has often differed from him in the views he has taken of questions 
of public policy, still of the honest convictions entertained by Mr. 
Hayne, of the correctness of his opinions, no one who has heard him 
express them could feel a doubt. His manner is the very index 
of sincerity. His leading characteristic as a speaker is zealous 
intrepidity. He is always ready to defend his sentiments or to aid 
in the support of measures which he has once advocated, and his 
efforts are devoted in the true spirit of chivalry with all his heart. 
He is no halfway advocate, and no mental reservations neutralize 
the effects of his exertions or throw a doubt on their good faith. 
His capacity in desultory debate is scarcely equalled in Congress, 
and hence some of his most powerful speeches have been those 
which were totally unpremeditated. In person Mr. Hayne is 
slightly above the middle size. His face, except when in motion, 
is not very remarkable, although its expression is pleasing. His 
complexion is sallow. His cheeks round and full, with rather a 
broad mouth ; his forehead is not peculiarly large or capacious, in 
comparison with his countenance ; his eyes are gray, full of fire and 
animation, and the most expressive feature in his face ; his hair 
is light brown, straight and carelessly worn. In fact, at first sight, 
his person does not indicate the character of the man. But in the 
warmth of debate, how do his features brighten with feeling and 



T 



276 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

intelligence. How do his eyes sparkle with a light as it were not their 
own. His countenance, when once the mind is loosened, seems 
full of intellect, and the continual play of his features justly indi- 
cates the susceptibilities of the inner man. His voice is clear and 
flexible, although without great depth or fulness of tone, and he has 
it under perfect control. When once in the full flow of utterance, 
it goes on uninterrupted by physical deficiencies and without the 
slightest harshness or irrelevancy of intonation. . . . His fancy is 
chaste, but glowing. His metaphors are sometimes remarkably 
happy, and his imagination never outrages common sense. If he 
has a fault, it is that his ardor occasionally, although not often, 
carries him too far into speculation not entirely relevant to the 
subject, and that, by the extension of his digressions, his hearers 
occasionally lose sight of his main object." ^ 

If we compare this sketch by a fairly disposed political opponent 
with that of the correspondent of the Philadelphia paper, who de- 
scribed the debate and the portrait by Benton, who, although a de- 
voted friend, was yet opposed to Hayne on the question of nulli- 
fication, while united with him on the other questions involved, 
we find a general resemblance, in spite of differences, all indicating 
the object of their speculations as one far beyond the ordinary and 
a great force in national legislation. History makes but slight 
mention of one other participant in the great debate, who up to that 
time had been recognized as, next to Hayne, the most representative 
Jackson Democrat in the Senate. Livingston of Louisiana had 
delivered a strong speech and a most interesting one, as it sub- 
sequently became the basis of Jackson's celebrated proclamation. 
While opposing Hayne, he had, to a certain degree, defended, 
excused or apparently sympathized with some of his declarations. 
The true explanation of this extraordinary state of affairs lay in 
this, no prominent individual outside of South Carolina believed 

* New York Gazette, March 4, 1830, quoted by City Gazette, March 12, 1830. 



SOME NORTHERN ESTIMATES OF HAYNE 277 

that nullification would ever be attempted because of the firm 
conviction that any party, attempting it, would be swept out of 
power, in any State. And the evidence for this, as far as South 
Carolina was concerned, was that Senator Smith, the Radical, had 
in his speech put himself closer to Webster than Hayne in the 
great debate. The two oldest and strongest papers in the State of 
South Carolina were also absolutely against any such policy; while 
the President, a South Carolinian himself, was believed to be the 
strongest political force in the State. Nor had Calhoun as yet 
openly associated himself with the policy, although it was believed 
by some that he was the instigator. Of the powerful, fearless 
and sincere determination of the mass of the voters to emancipate 
themselves from the oppressions of the tariff at any risk, there was 
little or no knowledge. 



CHAPTER XVI 

D. E. HUGER DEFEATS THE ATTEMPT TO NULLIFY IN 183O 

In Charleston and the immediate neighborhood, the Unionists 
had at this time able leaders. Joel R. Poinsett, J. R. Pringle, 
B. F. Hunt and B, F. Dunkin were all men of influence in the 
State, and the first named of some reputation in national affairs 
and in former days close to Calhoun. William Aiken, the head 
of the railroad, and two younger men, destined at a later day to 
rise to a much higher position in the public eye, Hugh S. Legare 
and C. G. Memminger, were also against nullification. But the 
two ablest and most eminent opponents to the policy were un- 
doubtedly James L. Petigru and D. E. Huger: Petigru, ardent, 
impetuous, full of the fire of love and hate, not at all averse to the 
stir of contest ; an incomparable wit, to whom the humor of a situ- 
ation involving his own discomfiture was as keenly appreciated 
as one in which an adversary alone was affected ; a great lawyer, 
and yet so devoted to his ideal, the Federal Union, that his political 
life seems to have been but a repetition of failures from the con- 
stancy with which he clung to it; D. E. Huger, quietly, almost 
gently, breasting the tide of popular sentiment, yet with a firm- 
ness and power surpassed by no man who has ever risen to 
prominence in the politics of South Carolina; capable as few 
men were of seeing the good in an opponent; the discreet and 
wise adviser of some who had passed beyond him, with favoring 
opportunity. Such were the Union leaders. And against them, 
apparently, but two men of prominence in Charleston, — James 
Hamilton, Jr., and H. L. Pinckney. Hamilton had succeeded 

278 



HUGER DEFEATS ATTEMPT TO NULLIFY IN 1830 279 

Lowndes and acquitted himself with ability, in a seat where the 
contrast to his predecessor would have destroyed a weaker man. 
He was a close, intimate and personal friend of Hayne, and almost 
as close to Calhoun as the latter. H. L. Pinckney had been an 
even more valuable assistant of Calhoun, at whose command he 
had placed all the resources of a very remarkable intellect, and for 
whose advancement he had contended as no other individual of 
the State or nation could claim to have done, and, as it must also 
be admitted, to the destruction of any claim, on his own part, to 
political consistency. His extraordinary command of words, and 
a rare power of striking and picturesque expression, gave him 
great strength with the multitude. Hayne, although with this 
faction, was not as yet openly allied, and was, apparently, still 
hoping that the breach might be filled. Of the old leaders, the 
three great Pinckneys were all dead, — Charles Cotesworth and 
Charles having followed Lowndes in three years, and Thomas 
having survived him but six; while Langdon Cheves had been 
away from the State for eleven years. Yet the sentiment given by 
such a man as Cheves had shown himself to be, in the various 
stations in which he had served, might well have arrested attention 
from the thoughtful ; for he went farther than Hayne, as one of his 
statements expresses : " The Union. May it be preserved, but if it 
be, it will be by a reform which shall make it serve the great pur- 
poses for which it was instituted, the equal security and protection 
of the rights, the interests, the honor, the feelings of all parts of the 
confederacy." ^ Dr. Cooper, one of the extremists, also accen- 
tuated the difference between Hayne and the leaders of the State 
Rights party ^ by declaring that if Senator Hayne, "in his very able 
reply, apologizes" for his (Cooper's) expression, "it is time to 
calculate the value of the Union," he (Cooper) will not. Yet as 
late as June the 30th, an old friend and associate of former days 

' Charleston Mercury, June 11, 1830. ' Ibid., March 24, 1830. 



28o ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

knits together praise of the disinterested and independent course 
of the President of the United States, and a sentiment of Hayne, 
expressed in a letter to the Eastern Argus of Maine, deprecating 
sectional differences; while at the Hayne-Drayton dinner, Senator 
Smith is one of those toasted. But this dinner marks the last 
attempt to keep up the appearance of unity in aim and purpose; 
for J. L. Petigru, although closely allied in business with James 
Hamilton, Jr., refused to attend, and William Gilmore Simms, then 
editing the City Gazette, called attention to the fact that while the 
voting strength of the city is 2800, only 430 tickets were taken up 
by the doorkeepers at the dinner. 

A letter from Jackson of date August 25, 1830, replying to a 
communication from William B. Lewis, enclosing a letter from 
South Carolina, throws some faint light on the confused politics of 
the time. The President says: "Have read and noted the letter 
enclosed from the Gentleman in South Carolina. I was aware of 
the hostility of the influential character alluded to. I sincerely 
regret the course taken by Hamilton & Hayne. The people of 
South Carolina will not, nay cannot, sustain such nulifying doctrines. 
The Carolinians are a patriotic and high-minded people, and they 
prize their liberty too high to jeopardize it at the shrine of an am- 
bitious Demagogue, whether a native of Carolina or any other 
country. This influential character in this heat has led Hamilton 
and Hayne astray, and it will, I fear, lead to the injury of Hamilton 
& lose him his election. But the ambitious Demagogue alluded 
to would sacrifice friends and country, and move heaven and earth 
to gratify his unholy ambition. His course will prostrate him here 
as well as everywhere else. Our friend, Mr. Grundy, says he 
will abandon him unless he can satisfy him that he has used 
his influence to put down this nulifying doctrine which threatens 
to dissolve our happy union." ^ 

' Original, Lenox Library, New York. 



HUGER DEFEATS ATTEMPT TO NULLIFY IN 1830 281 

By this time, however, the Union party had organized, and they 
brought forward J. R. Pringle as an opponent to H. L. Pinckney for 
the Intendancy, winning the election by 80 votes. Following up 
their victory, they put out a strong ticket for the Legislature: 
D. E. Huger, J. J. Bulow, Joel R. Poinsett, C. G. Memminger, 
John Shoemaker, B. F. Hunt, John Johnson, Jr., H. A. De Saussure, 
B. F. Dunkin, Hugh S. Legare, Elias B. Hort, Edward J. Pringle, 
M. I. Keith, J. W. Schmidt, Rene Godard and William Aiken 
for the House and J. L. Petigru for the State Senate, both factions 
having indorsed Drayton for Congress. 

Although he had as yet taken no pronounced position in the 
contest, and later deprecated the division, yet a private letter from 
Hayne to Colonel Thomas Pinckney shows that his sympathies 
were altogether with the State Rights party, even at this early 
date. The letter is dated Charleston, September 12, 1830. 

"My dear Sir: — 

"I have forwarded to Mr. Sass by this day's mail a letter of 
introduction to the Postmaster-General according to your request. 
I also send you our State Rights Manifesto, which be so good as to 
show to your neighbors. As to the notice in the Mercury, it was 
neither Editorial nor did it indicate any disposition of the State 
Rights Party to amalgamate with that Gentleman or his friends. 
We have nothing to do with it. It came from one of the enemy 
(as I am told) and was only inserted to prevent that gentleman 
from having an excuse for going over to the other party in the 
election then pending. Pinckney, I presume, did not suppose it 
would be attributed to him by any one. The character of the 
piece marked its origin. We have a difficult and delicate part to 
act here. When such men as Lee, Huger & Petigru appeal to 
the fears of the common people, I do not know what we can expect 
but the most abject spirit of submission. The great mass every- 



282 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

where never will act boldly if their leaders desert them. It is 
true now, as in '76, that men will always be inclined rather to submit 
to evils than to attempt to redress themselves. Great indeed is 
the responsibility of those who, at this crisis, shall paralyze the 
efforts of South Carolina; for if we now abandon our grounds, 
they can never be resumed even under greater violations of our 
rights. We shall use every honorable effort to retrieve our affairs 
at the general election m October. We shall be compelled to run 
on an unpledged ticket & we hope our adversaries may insist on 
pledges against convention. Our opponents are not without their 
difficulties too. The Bennett, Steedman & Hunt Party who com- 
pose a majority of the new Union party will insist on leading & 
will claim a place on the ticket for Hunt, Lance, Wilson, Magwood, 
etc., etc. This claim, if refused by Huger& Petigru, breaks them 
to pieces & if granted, leaves us an opening to attack & defeat 
them. Our friends in the interior must not expect too much of us. 
We shall do our best under the circumstances in which we are 
placed. Mr. Cheves & Hamilton visit Pendleton in October. 
The former will want a good settled farm. Do keep a lookout 
for him & lend him your aid. My family and your friends here 
are generally well. With our regards to your family & all friends 

believe me to be, 

"Very truly yours 

" Robert Y. Hayne." ^ 

This letter is not sanguine in tone, for Hayne gauged the senti- 
ment of the community correctly, the Unionists electing eleven of 
the sixteen representatives to the Legislature; but their victory 
was not as complete as they had desired, for they failed to prevent 
the election of H. L. Pinckney to the House ; while Petigru, their 
candidate for the State Senate, was defeated. Throughout the 

' Original in possession of Miss Mary Pinckney, Charleston, South Carolina. 

V 



HUGER DEFEATS ATTEMPT TO NULLIFY IN 1830 283 

State the nuUifiers were more successful, and under the leadership 
of W. C. Preston, A. P. Butler and Governor S. D. Miller were 
strong enough to raise Pinckney to the Speakership. But although 
Senator Smith had announced his opposition to the calling of a 
convention for the purpose of nullification, some preliminary work 
had to be done before he could be opposed with any certainty 
of success. 

Hugh S. Legare and John Belton O'Neall, both Unionists, were 
raised respectively to the Attorney-Generalship and a judgeship. 
Then, in the Senate, the seat of Harleston Read, and, in the House, 
the seat of Rene Godard, were attacked. The fight over Godard's 
seat brought into notice prominently a young man who soon made 
his influence distinctively felt. Barnwell Smith, as he was then 
called, for the family had not yet taken the name of Rhett, moved 
that the seat be declared vacated ; but Judge Huger, upon whom, 
single-handed, the leadership of the Unionist forces now depended, 
succeeded in securing a reference to the committee on Privileges 
and Elections, which, on a vote of 41 to 3, reported in favor of 
vacating the seat, which report the House with but one dissenting 
vote sustained. Most men would have abandoned a fight at this 
stage; but Judge Huger secured a reconsideration of the vote, 
to enable him to address the House in favor of Godard's right to 
his seat. The House finally refused to reverse itself, but by a 
vote of only 69 to 50 ^ in favor of such action. With two members 
unseated and Legare's seat vacated by his resignation, the Legis- 
lature then proceeded to the election of a senator, and Governor 
S. D. Miller was elected by 81 votes to 77 for Senator Smith, 
and one blank.^ 

Smith had been defeated by Hayne, because he was too much 
of a Radical, apparently now, because not quite enough. In the 
kaleidoscopic changes which were taking place in the political views 

' Charleston Mercury, Nov. 29, 1830. ' City Gazette, Dec. 3, 1830. 



284 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

of individuals as the positions of parties shifted, a reference made 
by Hugh S. Legare brings most forcibly to the consideration of the 
student of history a great loss which the State had sustained some 
eight years previous. At the '"76" Association dinner, where the 
sentiment in favor of nullification was being cultivated sedulously, 
Legare offered this sentiment, "The memory of William Lowndes, 
With all the moderation which wisdom inspires, with all the energy 
which virtue needs, and with all the influence that waits upon both 
would that fate had spared him for the times for which nature 
seemed to have formed him." ^ 

South Carolina was not yet ready to nullify. The venerable 
Sumter, appealed to, advised against the calling of a convention 
to do so, giving as his reasons first : that joint action was better 
than independent; and second, that as the Legislature had the 
power, there was no need to call a convention to do what was in 
the power of the Legislature to accomplish. The faction which 
was for nullification, however, determined to test their strength, and 
Preston, accordingly, introduced a set of resolutions concluding as 
follows : "Resolved that the State having long submitted to the evil 
in the hope of redress from the wisdom and the justice of the Federal 
Government doth no longer perceive any ground to entertain such 
hopes and therefore, that it is necessary and expedient that a con- 
vention of the people of the State be assembled to meet, on the 
adjournment of the ensuing session of the Congress of the United 
States, for the purpose of taking into consideration the said violation 
of the Constitutional Compact and devising the mode and measures 
of redress." ^ 

In opposition to this, Huger offered an amendment, in substance, 
declaring that if the tariff acts of 1824 and 1828 were not repealed 
or modified, that the Governor be authorized to correspond with 
other Governors of other States, and to take all steps necessary to a 

' Charleston Mercury, July 7, 1830. * Ibid., Dec. 6, 1830. 



HUGER DEFEATS ATTEMPT TO NULLIFY IN 1830 285 

convention of the aggrieved States, for such redress as they should 
see proper. On a previous motion to indefinitely postpone the 
call for a convention, the motion had been defeated by a vote in the 
House of 39 to 55, something like thirty members refraining from 
voting, of which five now voted for the calling of the convention, 
while seventeen voted against. The resolution of Preston, there- 
fore, not only lacked the two-thirds necessary for a call, but came 
perilously near a defeat, the vote being 60 for, 56 against.^ The 
man who had defeated the call was D. E. Huger. Of all the great 
men of South Carolina, he is least known ; but if he had received 
any reasonable support from the general government, he might 
have prevented nullification. 

* Ibid., Dec. 20, 1830. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE BREACH BETWEEN CALHOUN AND JACKSON. MCDUFFIE PRE- 
CIPITATES NULLIFICATION AGAINST THE APPROVAL OF CAL- 
HOUN. HAYNE EXPOUNDS ITS PRACTICABILITY FROM ITS 
PREVIOUS USE. CALHOUN'S LOGICAL EXPOSITION. SUMTER's 
SOLEMN APPEAL 

At the beginning of the year 1831 it began to be rumored that 
a breach had occurred in the relations of the President and Vice- 
President. As late as the spring of the previous year their attitude 
towards each other had been friendly; for in March of that year 
Calhoun had claimed that he and his friends in the Senate were 
actuated by the ambition " to carry the General through with glory, 
and while we see with pain every false move, we have never per- 
mitted our feelings to be alienated for a moment." ^ In May he 
thinks it doubtful whether General Jackson will offer again or not, 
although he informs Van Deventer that, " Some who regard their 
own interests more than his just fame are urging him to offer ; but 
it will be difficult to reconcile the course to his previous declara- 
tions, unless there should be the strongest considerations of the 
public good to justify him." ^ By August, as we have seen, Jack- 
son's reply to the letter sent him by Lewis containing information 
or accusation of unfriendliness to him by one, whom the description 
pretty well establishes as Calhoun, indicates beyond any doubt 
his readiness to believe any charge against Calhoun, although he 
had not yet submitted to him his request for an explanation con- 
cerning the matter which became the supposed ground of their 

'"Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 271-272. ^ Ibid., p. 272. 

286 



THE BREACH BETWEEN CALHOUN AND JACKSON 287 

quarrel. Later in the year he makes his demand for explanation 
of Calhoun's attitude in 1818, to which Calhoun replies in a long 
letter, the point of which is that Jackson should not have assumed 
that he, Calhoun, approved his course in 1818, etc. To all of 
which Jackson abruptly replies, that his grievance is that he has 
been all along kept under a delusion as to Calhoun's conduct 
towards him on that occasion, and by February, 1831, the volumi- 
nous correspondence is spread before the public, whose comments 
upon it seem to be quite mild, Calhoun's opponents in the State 
contenting themselves with the declaration that they leave it to 
Duff Green to call it a complete vindication. Still Calhoun refrains 
from any open adhesion to nullification, although as early as 
January, 183 1, he had written Hammond, "Nothing must be 
omitted to unite and strengthen her (South Carolina), for on her 
union and firmness, at this time, the liberty of the whole country 
in no small degree depends," ^ and it was McDuffie in his fiery 
speech of May, 1831, who committed the party to nullification. 
Calhoun did not approve of McDufhe's course ; his letter to Samuel 
D. Ingham of June 16 indicates that his hand was thereby forced 
before he was ready to play it. He gives a clear statement of 
his views, and if the letter which he mentions as having been sent 
to Hamilton on the same subject had been preserved, his own plan 
would be before us. But the party being now committed to nul- 
lification, Hayne was called upon to put it before the public. His 
speech on July 4, 1831, does not seem up to his usual standard, 
and almost suffers by contrast with the speech of Drayton, driven by 
McDuffie's violence into the arms of the Union party. Yet it gives 
us some interesting facts. Alluding to Stephen Elliott, whose 
death had taken place in the beginning of the previous year, he 
speaks of the memorial of 1820 as "an enduring monument of 
the wisdom of that most estimable man who died as he had lived, 

' Ibid., p. 281. 



288 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

without a rival in the confidence and affections of his fellow-citi 
zens," ^ and he claims that there is scarcely a district in the State 
which has not since forwarded similar memorials against the 
tariff to Congress in the ten years which have followed. Then he 
cites the action of succeeding Legislatures, all of which have been 
unheeded. He denies that nullification tends to dissolve the Union, 
and, avoiding metaphysical subtleties of discussion, produces an 
argument, based on known facts, difficult to answer. "Is 
Georgia in the Union now — who doubts it ? And yet, do we 
not all know that she has Nullified several treaties and acts 
of Congress, making them void within her limits, by acts of her own 
Legislature ? Did not Pennsylvania, in the Olmstead case, Nullify 
the proceedings of the Federal Court, and remain for ten years in 
possession of the fruits of her Nullifying act, and was she all that 
time actually out of the Union? If so, never having been read- 
mitted, she is out of it still." In answer to the charge that the 
Nullification party or the State Rights party, as they called them- 
selves, were composed of young men, he claims that it had had the 
support of General Thomas Pinckney, who died in 1828 and still 
had, at the time of his speech. Captain Richard B. Baker, "the last 
survivor of the battle of Fort Moultrie," Major James Hamilton 
of Pennyslvania, the father of the Governor "who assumed his 
arms at the heights of Dorchester, and only laid them down when 
the last gun was fired on the plains of Carolina," Keating Simons, 
"the friend and companion of Marion," and he "who bears upon 
his manly form the deep impression of many a wound, all received 
in front, and who stampt upon the events of the Southern war 
the might of his unconquerable arm and the majesty of his own 
great name, Carolina's Game Cock — the immortal Sumter^ 

The effect of this style of argument upon the mass of voters 
was soon noticeable. But further it was apparent that what 

' Hayne's Speech, 4th of July, 1831. Published by A. E. Miller, p. 13. 



THE BREACH BETWEEN CALHOUN AND JACKSON 289 

Hayne desired was to afford relief from an intolerable situation, 
and if relief could be obtained by any other way than nullification, 
his advice was, "by all means, try it." " If it be deemed necessary 
to make a last appeal to your sister States, — the oppressors and 
the oppressed, — let that appeal be made, solemnly warning 
the former of the inevitable consequences of continuing to exert 
an unwarrantable control over our domestic pursuits; and affec- 
tionately appealing to the latter for that countenance and support 
which we have a right to expect at their hands. But should the 
argument be exhausted, should all our efforts utterly fail and 
the only alternative left be submission to this usurpation of power, 
or the interposition of the sovereign authority of the State, I say, 
with Mr. Jefferson, ' there ought to be no hesitation.' But this, 
we are told, will be Nullification. Be it so. . . . We will take 
any remedy that may be proposed to us short of disunion; but 
should it come finally to this, that we must either submit, inter- 
pose the sovereign authority of the State — or secede, and we 
are determined not to submit, what possible objection can any one 
then have to this mterposition (if it were merely an experiment to 
save the Union) — call it Nullification or call it what you will ? . . . 
It is preposterous to tell us that parties are divided only as to the 
remedy. An agreement in principle, and a difference as to meas- 
ures, is always a friendly difference of opinion . . . but is there no 
reason in this case to fear, that many of those who profess to wage 
war only against what they call our 'extreme remedies' are in fact 
tariff men at heart? " When Hayne left this branch of the argu- 
ment and attempted to make out his case on the Constitution, he 
was weak ; for one has only to read the act by which South Carolina 
commissioned her deputies to attend the Constitutional Convention 
to realize that Hayne's assertion, that, "This Constitution was 
formed by the several States, each acting for itself and in its sov- 
ereign capacity," was incorrect; nor is his speech immune to the 

V 



290 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

V 

criticism of William Gilmore Simms, "Mangled quotations, lugged 
in by the head and shoulders, whenever there is an inconvenient 
dearth of original expression." Meanwhile the Unionists were 
breathing forth their sentiments in twenty-four regular and 
one hundred and twenty-three volunteer toasts. That some of 
these were rather truculent, is scarcely astonishing under the cir- 
cumstances. The fifth toast was aimed at Calhoun, "The Vice- 
President of the United States: His pohtical intimates have 
declared their sentiments of nullification — will he shrink from an 
open exposition of his own?" ^ This taunt was followed by a 
veiled threat in the eighth, "The people of South Carolina: They 
will preserve the Union — peaceably if they can." But Cal- 
houn was not the only prominent man they struck at, for in 
the eleventh they gave, "The American system: The ofifspring 
of a wily ambition, which would corrupt the people at their own 
expense." With "State sovereignty" they had little patience, 
declaring, "If one State has a right to change the government, the 
others have a right to prevent it." William Lowndes was remem- 
bered and eulogized, and Petigru also called to remembrance 
Judge Nott. The toast of young C. G. Memminger was one well 
worthy to be pondered, "The Virginia Resolutions of 1798: 
The true exposition of the doctrine of State Rights; they have 
once prevailed over the advocates of implied powers — they reject 
the proffered alliance of nullification." But no toast was as epi- 
grammatic as that of another young attorney, George S. Bryan, 
who suggested, "Nullification: Anarchy reduced to system." 
In all this flash of wit, perhaps the wisest toast was that offered 
by the Surveyor of the Port, who seems to have stood somewhat 
alone in advocating, "Charity to those who differ from us." 
Up to this time, Calhoun had refrained from committing himself, 

* Union and State Rights Celebration, So. Ca. Historical Pamphlets, So. Ca. 
Hist. Society. 



THE BREACH BETWEEN CALHOUN AND JACKSON 291 

although he had expressed to Hammond his belief that the general 
j government would never relax its hold unless compelled; that 
such compulsion could only be brought about by united pressure 
from the South or nullification by some one State, and as there was 
no hope of united effort on the part of the South during 
Jackson's term, South Carolina, as the only one that could possibly 
put herself on her sovereignty, was the only one to be looked to.^ 
As late as June 16, i83i,writing to Samuel D. Ingham of McDuffie's 
imprudent speech, he says: "My friends must judge whether the 
position I may take will be such as that they can prudently main- 
tain. If so, I will, of course, expect their support ; but if not, I will 
not complain." ^ It would almost seem as if the taunt of the 
Unionists had finally decided him; for under date of August 5, 
he writes to Van Deventer, "There has been so much solicitude 
to know my sentiments on the great question of the relation which 
the State and General Government bear to each other, that I have 
laid them before the public as an act due to them, as well as to 
myself." The letter, containing his views, appeared in the Pen- 
j dleion Messenger, as written July 26, 1831, from Fort Hill, so 
that allowing the time necessary for the report of the Unionist 
taunt and the preparation of his dignified and powerful reply, 
it would seem to have brought it forth. 

This letter was the strongest presentation ever made of the doc- 
trine of nullification, and that it had a powerful effect is not to be 
doubted. Three thousand copies of it and 1000 copies of Hayne's 
4th of July speech were printed and circulated as campaign 
documents. It is a great paper and one worthy of study, temperate 
throughout and appealing to nothing but the reasoning faculty. 
In a logical method, premises are laid down and from them con- 
clusions are drawn with great skill. The writer finds it necessary 
to upset some of his own friend's arguments, and the discourse 

'"Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 281. 'Ibid, p. 294. 



292 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

seems to prove that Benton is mistaken in his belief, as well 
as the historian Rhodes in his, that Calhoun prompted Hayne 
in the course of the latter's argument with Webster; for 
strange as it appears, he combats one of Hayne's arguments, 
declaring that if it cannot be overthrown, the argument for 
nullification is lost. But probably the most interesting part of 
Calhoun's letter is that in which he bases his belief in his remedy, 
upon his unwillingness to admit that there is none to be found. 
So imperceptibly do the premises move from solid to unsubstantial 
ground, that it is difficult to detect the change; but once noticed, 
it is seen that the base of this elaborate and imposing structure 
is faulty. The premises are as follows: "The General Govern- 
ment emanated from the people of the several States forming 
distinct political communities ; that the Constitution of the United 
States is in fact a compact, to which each State is a party in the 
character already described, and that the several States or parties 
have a right to judge of its infraction and in case of a deliberate, 
palpable and dangerous exercise of a power, not delegated, they 
have the right in the last resort, to use the language of the Virginia 
resolutions, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil and for 
maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, rights 
and liberties appertaining to them. This right of interposition 
... be it called what it may, State Rights, veto, nullification, 
or by any other name, I conceive to be the fundamental principle 
of our system, resting on facts historically as certain as our Revolu- 
tion itself, and deductions as simple and demonstrative as that of 
any political or moral truth Vvhatever." * On these premises the 
whole argument hangs and to them again and again he refers. 
In his second speech in the great debate with Webster, Hayne had 
said: "A State is brought into collision with the United States, 
in relation to the exercise of unconstitutional powers: who is to 

' Charleston Mercury, Aug. 12, 1831. 



THE BREACH BETWEEN CALHOUN AND JACKSON 293 

decide between them ? Sir, it is the common case of difference of 
opinion between sovereigns as to the true construction of a com- 
pact." He had argued that "the party proposing to use the dis- 
puted power" should appeal to the power by which the Constitu- 
tion could be altered for express authority and until conferred, 
the power must be suspended. Calhoun now found it necessary 
to combat this, and depending on the supposed strength and un- 
assailable nature of his premises, brushed aside an argument which, 
whatever its merit or lack of merit, rested on a premise more se- 
cure than the one with which he replaced it. "It is objected," 
he said, "that if one party has the right to judge of the infraction 
of the Constitution, so has the other, and consequently in cases of 
contested powers between a State and the General Government 
each would have a right to maintain its opinion as is the case when 
sovereign powers differ on the construction of treaties or compacts, 
and that it would come to a mere question of force. The error 
is in the assumption that the General Government is a party to 
the Constitutional Compact. The States, as has been shown, 
formed the Compact, acting as sovereigns and independent com- 
munities. The General Government is but the creature, and 
though in reality a government with all the rights and authority 
which belong to any other government, within the orb of its power, 
it is nevertheless a government emanating from a compact between 
sovereigns and partaking in its nature and object of the character 
of a joint commission, appointed to superintend and administer 
the interests in which all are jointly concerned, but having beyond 
its proper sphere no more power than if it did not exist." 

The only word which properly describes this argument is that it 
is extremely subde and gently insinuating, and that is what con- 
stitutes its greatest power. For instance, if the two first premises 
are considered, in the light of the act by which South Carolina 
deputized her commissioners to the Constitutional Convention 



294 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

in 1787/ we must note that, while the general government did 
emanate from the people of the several States, forming distinct] 
political communities, and the Constitution of the United States 
is in fact a compact, to which each State is a party, the assertion 
that they were such "in the character already described" is erro- 
neous. That is where Calhoun's argument fails ; for the State of 
South Carolina was not a party to the Constitutional Compact 
in the character in which she was when "the General Government 
emanated from the people of the several States." She was in the 
second instance a party to a confederation and perpetual Union, 
which she sought to make more perfect by joint action with other 
States, subject to the approval of the general government, then 
existing, and her own subsequent ratification. This seems to bear 
out the idea of the constitutional compact which both Webster 
and Calhoun thought erroneous, when advanced by Hayne ; namely 
that the general government was a party to the compact. That 
Calhoun himself was entirely satisfied with the conception he ad- 
vanced herein, is very questionable, in the light of another expres- 
sion, in the same great discussion: "As the disease v/ill not heal 
itself, we are brought to the question, can a remedy be applied ? 
To answer in the negative would be to assert that our Union has 
utterly failed. I am not prepared to admit a conclusion which 
would cast so deep a shadow on the future, etc." To save the 
Union then, to avoid secession and to remedy the injustice which 
the tariff was occasioning, by the exploitation of one section for 
the benefit of another, he brought himself to believe, that by the 
Constitution a government had been formed, which certainly was 
not such as Charles Pinckney had conceived it to be, when he, 
the chief architect in its construction, presented it to the con- 
vention of South Carolina for ratification; nor such as they who 
framed the act (by which he and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 

* Statutes of So. Ca., Vol. 5, p. 4. 



THE BREACH BETWEEN CALHOUN AND JACKSON 295 

and the other deputies of the State had been empowered to assist 
in its preparation) had legislated for; nor such as Judge Nott had 
argued from the bench of South Carolina, in 1818, it must of neces- 
sity be ; but such as Quincy of Massachusetts, in the House of 
Representatives, had argued, that it was in 181 1, when Poindexter 
of Mississippi had called him to order and on appeal from the 
Speaker's ruling, the House by solemn vote had set its seal of ap- 
proval upon, by overruling the Speaker in his sustenance of Poin- 
dexter's point of order. 

Calhoun, therefore, had originated nothing ; he had simply given 
new life and vitality to the principle enunciated in the Faneuil 
Hall resolutions of 181 1, which, with greater ability and temper- 
ance, he put forward in a cause, to say the least, as just. And 
if the weakness of his argument may have been apparent to some 
of his fellow-citizens, the justice of the cause in which it was so 
temperately urged was recognized by all but a very small propor- 
tion; those whose course Hayne had predicted, with rare political 
sagacity, now established by one of the very leaders, he had fore- 
seen, would be embarrassed by it.^ 

Writing to his friend Elliott on August 25, 183 1, J. L. Petigru 
observes: "The Union party, after going on with marvellous 
discretion, have just come to something like a stump. They 
thought to send tracts into the country. B. F. H. had the lead and 
undertook to superintend it. He wrote the prospectus devilish 
well, too, but unluckily he slips over the line and, as our orthodox 
say, defends the tariff." ^ 

The turn of the tide is evinced by Pinckney's wresting the Inten- 
dancy from Pringle in Charleston; yet so evenly divided still are 
the parties that the State Rights party fill a vacancy in the Legis- 
lature by a majority of only 8 votes over the 1346 cast for the 

' Hayne's Letter of September 12, 1830; Speech of July 4, 1831, p. 20. 
* Unpublished letters of J. L. Petigru in possession of J. P. Carson, Esq. 



296 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Unionist candidate. Then comes an appeal far more impressive 
than any utterance which could possibly fall from the lips or pro- ^^^ 
ceed from the pen of Hayne, Calhoun or any other Carolinian, the 
venerable Sumter, the hero of that continual warfare against the 
British in South Carolina which the historian McCrady declares , 

was in the main responsible for the surrender at Yorktown, the con- | 
sistent Republican, now in his ninety-fifth year, marks the coming 
year of his own long-deferred departure from this earthly life, with this 
solemn call: "The year 1832: The period when the character of 
the State of South Carolina and of her inhabitants shall be fixed 
forever. When no middle course shall be open to them, and when ' 

every individual will either rank among the enemies of the liberties 
of his country, or else among those who have honored it." ^ 

It was with appeals such as these moving him that Hayne pro- 
ceeded to the last session of Congress, in which he took a part. 

^Charleston Mercury, Nov. 16, 1831. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THE LAST 
APPEAL TO REASON AT WASHINGTON 

In the close of the year 1831, the Unionists, realizing that the 
tide of opinion in the State was setting in against them and that, 
in all probability, they would be weaker in the Legislature to be 
chosen in the following year than in the one the term of which was 
drawing to an end, attempted the execution of a flank movement 
of some skill, which they almost succeeded in effecting. On the 
introduction of a resolution favoring the renomination of Jackson, 
by a very full vote, the body put itself on record as not committed, 
65 for, 90 against.^ Following up this demonstration of Jackson's 
strength, they published an address to the people of the State, 
which was a strong document and signed by some men of more than 
local influence, — ex-Senator William Smith, Judge D. E. Huger, 
ex-Governor R. I. Manning, ex-Congressmen Joel R. Poinsett 
and John Gist, Judge J. P. Richardson and J. L. Petigru, Esq. 
"We deny," the address declares, "that any State, by the Consti- 
tution, has the right to declare an act of Congress, passed within 
the letter of the Constitution (such as the tariff), and in which all 
of the States are equally interested, unconstitutional, and to arrest 
its operations within its limits." Then inquiring, " Can the Legis- 
lature pass a law laying imposts?" the answer is, "No; because 
the State parted with that right." The address admits, "It is 
true that ours is a government of checks and balances," but claims 

' Ibid., Dec. 3, 1831. 
297 



298 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

that " all which exist are to be found within the Constitution, " and 
aiming evidently at Calhoun's publication of the previous year, 
declares that " any other is the product of a great mind grappling 
with a wrong cause, until error has gained the ascendency." While 
this address fails to suffer even by contrast with the elaborate argu- 
ment of Calhoun, which it thus singles out to assail, it is because, 
avoiding the manner adopted by him, it aims to bring the matter 
before the mind of the reader in its practical operation. " We 
nullify the tariff law. Congress passes, by a constitutional vote, 
an act to call a convention, and Rhode Island nullifies it. What is 
to be done? Must there be another act to call a convention, to 
nullify Rhode Island's nullification? It seems to be unquestion- 
able that there must." ^ Certainly the Unionists of South Caro- 
lina were contesting every foot of ground; nor was there any 
opponent so great and powerful as to find shelter from their fire, 
Sumter, alone, excepted ; and how could they attack him ? Was 
not the very existence of the State and the independence achieved 
in a great measure due to him ? had he not exhausted every effort 
to prevent the ratification of the Constitution under which this 
exploitation of the State was being conducted? With Sumter, it 
was no fine discrimination as to powers, granted or withheld, ex- 
press or implied, but the Revolutionary right of resistance to op- 
pression for which, more than half a century before, he had freely 
poured out his blood ; and his call the State thoroughly understood, 
and was preparing to respond to. In his " History of the United 
States," Mr. Elson says : " Notwithstanding the ominous warnings, 
the South Carolinians rushed on where angels might have feared 
to tread. Their State was in great turmoil ; but it was in Washing- 
ton that the seeds of disunion were nourished into growth under 
the leadership of Hayne." The ominous warnings to which this 
historian refers, he sets out as conveyed in a toast given by Presi- 

* City Gazette, Jan. 6, 1832. 



STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTH CAROLINA 299 

dent Jackson at a banquet, held in Washington on April 13, 1830, 
where,, after many such, '' bearing on State Rights, and savoring of 
nullification," he announced as his subject, " The Federal Union : 
It must and shall be preserved." Continuing, the historian de- 
clares: "He denounced as treason all movements toward nullifica- 
tion and disunion. His speech fell like a bomb in the ranks of 
the South Carolinians; they saw that they could get no sympathy 
from Jackson, that he was for the Union at all hazards. This 

K occurred two and a half months after the great debate between 
Webster and Hayne, and a month before the final break between 
Jackson and Calhoun." The only authority for this, given by 
Mr. Elson, is Benton ; but Benton does not altogether sustain it. 
Writing from his recollection many years after, Benton yet remem- 

I hers the toast as originally reported, "Our Federal Union, it 
must be preserved." In addition to offering this toast, Jackson 
may have spoken; but Benton does not so state. What he does 
say is: "This brief and simple sentiment, receiving emphasis 
from all the attendant circumstances and from the feeling which 
had been spreading since the time of Mr. Webster's speech was 
received by the public as a proclamation from the President, to 
announce a plot against the Union and to summon the people to 

I its defence."^ The words "and shall" were words claimed by 
the Philadelphia Sentinel to have been used, after the discussion 
which arose, as to Jackson's meaning, and it was after Jackson's 
toast, not before, that Calhoun offered his, " The Union : Next to 

! our Liberty the most dear; may we all remember that it can only 
be preserved by respecting the rights of the States and distributing 
equally the benefits and burden of the Union." While the third 
toast in order almost knits the two together. This was offered 
by Van Buren, Jackson's Secretary of State and political legatee: 
"Mutual forbearance and reciprocal concessions. Through their 

\ » Benton, "Thirty Years' View," Vol. i, p. 148. 



300 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

agency the Union was established. The patriotic spirit from 
which they emanated will ever sustain it." ^ Four months later, 
Jackson did express disapproval of "this nulifying doctrine," and 
also declared that he "was aware of the hostility of the influential 
personage" with which William B. Lewis was seeking to acquaint 
him; but he seems even then to be depending more upon the South 
Carolinians putting it down themselves than preparing himself for 
any such effort, and it was not until after his breach with Calhoun 
at the end of the year 1830, or possibly until Van Buren was re- 
placed by the abler Edward Livingston, that Jackson was made to 
understand what nullification meant. Prior to that time, he had 
practically approved it; and when he finally issued his proclama- 
tion against the doctrine, while the hand was the hand of Jackson, 
the voice was the voice of Livingston. 

To describe Hayne as during this time occupying himself in 
nourishing the seeds of disunion at Washington, is not warranted by 
the facts of the case ; rather he was exerting himself to the utmost' 
to remove the cause of discontent, the exactions of that which his 
great antagonist had flippantly denominated "the accursed tar- 
iff." But into the Senate Chamber of the United States there now 
stalked the most remarkable figure of that time. Distinctly in- 
ferior to both Calhoun and Webster, in point of intellect, led into 
disaster after disaster by an erring judgment, the very prince of 
demagogues. Clay must have been nevertheless one of the most 
magnetic of men and, despite his bursts of arrogance, capable of 
inspiring a devotion never lavished upon his two great rivals. 
A part of the secret of his extraordinary hold upon his followers is 
accounted for in the admission of an active opponent, "Henry 
Clay never deserted a friend." ^ But this was not from policy, 
it was because his affections, once engaged, he was constant, and 
death itself could not tear from his heart the memory of a friend. 
» Courier, April 24, 1830. * Francis P. Blair. 



STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTH CAROLINA 301 

His popularity was certainly not due to his successes ; for few men 
of prominence in our national history have provoked and been 
• worsted in so many encounters as the story of his life teems with. 
Failing to secure the Presidency, he had become Adams's Secretary 
of State, somewhat to the injury of the New England statesman, 
who, as the chief executive of the country, had been made to bear 
the odium of Clay's ill-digested projects for his own aggrandize- 
ment. Yet, in unintentionally crippling Adams, he had accom- 
plished but little for himself. Still, he was a great presence and 
must live in history as the father of the American System, which, 
whether for good or ill, he was mainly responsible for. From 
the time of his debate with Hayne, Webster had almost replaced 
Dickerson as the leader of the protectionists; while Hayne still 
remained at the head of the free trade faction; but the division 
was not so sharp as to prevent them from not infrequently voting 
upon the same side, in the many questions coming before the Senate. 
Between the two no further clash had occurred; but this could not 
be credited to undue caution upon the part of Hayne, whose slash- 
ing assault upon the pension system seemed to call out for a de- 
fender ; rather it was due to the fact that the former aggressor felt 
that he had nothing to gain by any further controversy, and that it 
was incumbent upon him not again to be found in that attitude 
without a most compelling reason. Hayne had, however, undoubt- 
edly sacrificed some of his strength and influence in the State and 
nation to his absolute loyalty to Calhoun. Doubtless he realized 
that without Calhoun's assistance he might have failed to reach the 
high station he held, and for his chief's ambition, he entertained 
the warmest sympathy, believing him to be most eminently fitted 
for the Presidency; but this sympathy certainly led the younger 
man to assume at least one utterly indefensible position, which his 
own truer judgment had led him to advise strongly against. Had 
Hayne possessed that ability to steel himself against the demands 



302 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

of friendship and gratitude for past favors, which Calhoun cer- 
tainly was capable of, he would remain a less beautiful character; 
but he would be far better known and much more prominent. 
Benton describes him, in the great debate with Webster, as "the 
sword and shield" of Calhoun, and Benton certainly had some 
excuse for this description in connection with an instance in which 
he and Calhoun had been at issue, in which Hayne's sound judg- 
ment, keen perception and prompt action had saved Calhoun from 
a situation calculated to injure him, even if but slightly, in the esti- 
mation of the public. Calhoun had ruled Benton out of order, 
on some point raised, and Benton, very courteously but firmly, 
had informed the presiding officer of the Senate that he was so 
confident he was right that he felt compelled to appeal from 
the decision of the chair. But before the appeal could be put, 
Hayne, for whom Benton entertained a very great affection and 
warm regard, interposed and obtained a postponement to allow 
senators to look into the point. At the opening of the following 
day, Calhoun admitted his error and corrected it, without an appeal. 
If therefore Calhoun helped to advance Hayne to high station, 
Hayne most intelligently and loyally assisted Calhoun in maintain- 
ing his own. 

With Clay's entrance to the Senate, Webster's hard-won leader- 
ship vanished; for the father of the American System promptly 
installed himself as leader of the protectionists, as well as of the 
opposition, thereby driving the hot-tempered Jackson towards 
free trade. The ability of the Southern men to utilize this, 
however, was profoundly affected by the personal difference which 
had arisen between Jackson and Calhoun. 

On the loth of January, 1832, Clay submitted his tariff resolu- 
tion. The debt was about to be paid, and the duties must be re- 
duced, the question was how they should be? He suggested, 
"That the existing duties upon articles imported from foreign 



d 



STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTH CAROLINA ^o^ 

countries, and not coming into competition with similar articles, 
made or produced within the United States, ought to be forthwith 
abolished, except the duties on wines and silks, and that they 
ought to be reduced." At the very opening of his speech in favor 
of this course. Clay, addressing the Vice-President, made an al- 
lusion to their dead friend, William Lowndes, "a friend of yours 
and mine, whose premature death was not a loss merely to his 
native State, of which he was one of the brightest ornaments ; but 
to the whole Nation. No man with whom we had the honor to 
be associated in the legislative councils combined more extensive 
and useful knowledge, with more firmness of judgment and bland- 
ness of manner than the lamented Lowndes." ^ Then passing to a 
consideration of the three modes by which the tariff might be 
reduced, he characterized the first and second, the contention of the 
South and his own original proposition, as both equally objection- 
able ; but the third, the suggestion which he was now advocating, 
he maintained was the ideal solution. The spirit of the man, his 
methods and his policies, were unconsciously summed up in the 
sincere inquiry, "Why should those who opposed the American 
System demand of its friends an unconditional surrender ?" That 
was Clay. Not what was best for the country, not what was wis- 
est; but terms. Then failing to realize that in Adams and his 
diary there would arise the pruner of his periods, he launched his 
peroration: "Yes, Sir, I came here in a spirit of warm attachment 
to all parts of our beloved country ; with a lively solicitude to restore 
and preserve its harmony and with a firm determination to pour oil 
and balm into existing wounds rather than to further lacerate them. 
For the truth and sincerity of these declarations I appeal to Him 
whom none can deceive. I expected to be met by a corresponding 
disposition and hoped that our deliberations, guided by fraternal 
sentiment and feelings, would terminate in diffusing contentment 

• City Gazette, Jan. 20, 1832. 



304 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

and satisfaction throughout the land. And that such may be the 
spirit presiding over them, and such their issue, I yet most fervently 
hope." 

The vi^armth of his " attachment to all parts of our beloved coun- 
try" is dryly set out by that cold-blooded individual, John Quincy 
Adams, who relates that on December the 28th he had attended a 
conference at which Clay had laid down as the principle of the 
party "to abolish and reduce the duties on unprotected articles, 
and to increase the duties on protected articles." Adams states 
that he "observed that an immediate remission of duties, with a 
declared disposition to increase the duties upon protected articles, 
would be a defiance not only of the South, as had been observed by 
Mr. Everett, but defiance also of the President and the whole ad- 
ministration party. Mr. Clay said he did not care who it defied. 
To preserve, maintain and strengthen the American system, he 
would defy the South, the President and the devil." ^ From this 
extreme position he had receded, under pressure from his own side; 
but to Webster, who was present at this conference, the speaker's 
allusions to the oil and balm he wished to pour into existing wounds 
must have been most impressive. Immediately upon the conclu- 
sion of Clay's speech, Hayne, as leader of the opposing faction, 
arose to move a postponement of any further consideration of the 
resolution and the making it the order of the day for the following 
Monday. In support of his motion, he called attention to the fact 
that the resolution contemplated an adjustment of the tariff, under 
which " articles of universal consimiption and in relation to which 
every class of the public and every portion of the country contribute 
equally should be relieved entirely from all taxation; while the 
high duties on the protected articles should remain untouched." 
He alluded to the expressed hope of " common ground " ; but asked 
how that was possible, with "no concessions whatever to our views, 

* "Memoirs of John Quincy Adams," Vol. 8, p. 446. 



STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTH CAROLINA 305 

but with the purpose to maintain the protective system in all its 
unmitigated rigor?" The situation seemed so threatening that 
Judge Baldwin of Pennsylvania proposed a plan of adjustment 
to Hayne and McDuffie, after consultation with ex-President 
Adams, which they could not tell him would be satisfactory to 
them or the South, but which Hayne did tell him he would be 
glad to see introduced by a Pennsylvanian senator. 

On Monday, Hayne moved to amend Clay's resolution by strik- 
ing out all after the word "countries" in the second line and insert- 
ing, "be so reduced, that the amount of the public revenue shall 
be sufficient to defray the expenses of government, according to 
their present scale, after the payment of the public debt; and that 
allowing a reasonable time for the gradual reduction of the present 
high duties on the articles, coming into competition with similar arti- 
cles made or produced in the United States, the duties be ultimately 
equalized, so that the duties on no article shall, as compared with 
the value of that article, vary materially from the general average." 
In expressing his views, Hayne was obliged to cover ground most 
comprehensively surveyed in his great speech against the tariff 
bill of 1824, in an effort extremely difficult for any one to improve 
upon; yet, in certain respects, the speech of 1832 is a more finished 
product. Before him, he had a far abler adversary than Dicker- 
son ; indeed, in the popular estimate, the greatest living debater, 
although it is doubtful whether, in Hayne's opinion, he was such. 
It is interesting to notice the mode in which Hayne undertook to 
contend with Clay. There is an absence of that intense excitement 
which inspired some of his keenest thrusts and animated his first 
reply to Webster to its highest pitch of eloquence. He has himself 
as well in hand as he was in the second speech. Nothing in 
Hayne's style of speaking is so strikingly original as his ability 
to utilize eulogy of an opponent to strengthen his own cause. If 

1 Ibid., Vol 8, p. 482. 
X 



3o6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

there was lacking that burning eloquence in which he emblazoned 
on high the fame of Webster as an opponent of the tariff, as the 
latter declared, only that his fall might be the greater when he no 
longer opposed it; if there was no passage quite up to the style of 
that supremely pure and beautiful picture of the Republic, which 
adorns his own great speech of 1824, yet it was a truly great speech, 
fully worthy of the grave occasion upon which it was delivered and 
the great antagonist who could find in it no weak point which 
he could successfully assail. If Clay remembered the "farthing 
candle," which Hayne had pictured him in 1830, holding up to 
Webster's sun in 1824, he was not the man to bear malice; but had 
he been more of the nature of Calhoun or Webster, Hayne's opening 
might have partially disarmed him; for the latter said of him: 
"The Senator from Kentucky (Mr, Clay) commenced his remarks 
a few days ago by complaining of the advances of age, and mourned 
the decay of his eloquence so eloquently as to prove that it was 
still in full vigor. He then went on. Sir, to make a most able and 
ingenious argument, amply sustaining his high reputation as an 
accomplished orator." But Hayne was not idly complimenting 
Clay. Even in this he was attacking his speech as was soon 
apparent, and as difficult as this style of warfare was to meet. 
Continuing, he said: "With this example before me, Mr. Presi- 
dent, I am almost deterred from offering any apology for the very 
imperfect manner in which I must, of necessity, perform the task 
now before me, lest I should create expectations which it will cer- 
tainly not be in my power to gratify. And yet, perhaps, it may be 
permitted to one so humble as myself to say, that it belongs not to 
me at any time, or under any circumstances, and, least of all, at 
this moment, and on this occasion, to satisfy the expectations of 
those, if any such there be, who may have come here to witness the 
graces of oratory, or to be delighted with the charms of eloquence. 
I would not, Sir, on this occasion, play the orator if I could. . . . 



STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTH CAROLINA 307 

Confiding in the indulgence of the Senate, and deeply sensible of my 
inability to do justice to the important subject ... I shall proceed at 
once in the plain, unadorned language of soberness and truth to 
the examination of the questions now before us. The gentleman 
from Kentucky set out with the declaration that he did not deem 
it necessary to offer any arguments in favor of the American System, 
'that the protecting policy stands self-vindicated, that it has scat- 
tered its rich fruits over the whole land, and is sustained by the 
experience of all-powerful and prosperous nations.' Sir, we meet 
these positions at once by asserting, on our part, that the Protecting 
System stands self-condemned — condemned in our own country, 
by the desolation which has followed in its train, and the discon- 
tents it has produced — condemned by the experience of all the 
world, and the almost unanimous opinion of enlightened men in 
modern times. . . . We are seeking relief from an abiding evil. 
. . . We cannot stand where we are. We cannot, like the gentle- 
man from Kentucky, rest on mere unsupported assertions." ^ 
Then taking up the claim that "the much-abused policy of 1824 
has filled our coffers, etc.," he contends that "the object of a pro- 
tecting tariff as such certainly is to diminish or exclude importa- 
tions and, of course, to lessen the amount of revenue derived from 
duties. The very end and aim of such a system is to substitute 
for the imported taxed article the untaxed domestic article, to 
transmute the tax into a bounty to the manufacturers, and just so 
far as this end is attained, that is to say, just so far as the tariff 
is protective must it cut off the public revenue." Concerning the 
"rich fruits" which the protective policy had "scattered over the 
country, " Hayne said he would apply a test " which cannot deceive 
us with regard to the gentleman's own State. When the policy 
of 1824 was before Congress, the Senator from Kentucky stood 

' Speech of R. Y. Hayne, " Reduction of the Tariff, 1832." Printed by Jonathan 
Elliott, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, p. 3. 



3o8 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

forth as its champion, and it was my lot to attempt to answer his 
arguments. It is true, Sir, that his speech was made in the other 
House and mine on this floor, but his argument had been sent forth 
as the manifesto of the party; it was printed in pamphlet form 
and laid on the tables of the senators. ... I well remember, 
therefore, that on that occasion the gentleman argued that Kentucky 
was to participate in the protecting system, by raising large quan- 
tities of hemp, and supplying the Southern States with cotton bag- 
ging; and he strongly insisted that she was then only prevented 
from so doing by the ruinous competition of the little Scotch towns 
of Inverness and Dundee. And what is it, Sir, that we hear now, 
after the lapse of eight years ? The old story repeated. Kentucky 
still deprived of the benefits of the protecting system by those for- 
midable rivals, Inverness and Dundee. They still constitute 'the 
lion in the path,' and foreign manufactures ever will be 'the lion 
in the path' to those whose prosperity depends on the protecting 
system." Passing from the West to the South, he cites Charleston 
as evidence of "the crumbling memorial of our wealth and happi- 
ness," declaring that it was within his own experience that "a 
thriving foreign commerce was within a few years past carried on 
direct to Europe. We had native merchants, with large capitals 
engaged in the foreign trade. We had thirty or forty ships, many 
of them built and all owned in Charleston, giving employment to 
a numerous and valuable body of mechanics, tradesmen and mari- 
ners. Look at the state of things now. Our merchants bankrupt 
or driven away — their capital sunk or transferred to other pur- 
suits — our shipyards broken up — our ships all sold." He ad- 
mitted frankly that there were other causes which had contributed 
to produce the evils which he had depicted, that trade could be 
carried on with greater facility at New York and cotton raised 
more profitably in Alabama; but contended that "men do not quit 
their accustomed employments or the homes of their fathers for 



STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTH CAROLINA 309 

any small addition merely to their profits." He took occasion to 
warn the representatives of the new States that they could not long 
escape the common fate; they would only be the last victims de- 
voured. He declared that there was " no escape from this political 
Polyphemus, unless they assume the fleece — become manufac- 
turers and take the bounty." Even at the North, he averred, there 
were "wise and experienced and patriotic men . . . who tell us 
. . . that the system has operated in building up a favored class, 
at the expense of the rest of the community. That it has, in fact, 
'made the rich richer and the poor poorer.' . . . But there are 
higher and more sacred principles involved in this question, which 
cannot be safely disregarded — considerations of justice and political 
equality which rise far above all calculations of mere profit and loss. 
Sir, what will it profit you 'if you gain the whole world' and lose 
the hearts of your people. This is a confederated government, 
founded on a spirit of mutual conciliation, concession and com- 
promise; and it is neither a just, prudent, nor rightful exercise 
of the high trust with which you are invested for the common good, 
to resort to a system of legislation, by which benefits and burdens 
are unequally distributed. ... A large portion of your fellow- 
citizens, believing themselves to be grievously oppressed by this 
system, are clamoring at your doors for justice, while another por- 
tion, supposing that they are enjoying rich bounties under it, are 
treating their complaints with scorn and contempt. God only 
knows where all this is to end. But it 'will not and cannot come 
to good.' We at the South still call you our brethren, and have 
ever cherished towards you the strongest feelings of affection; 
but were you the brothers of our blood, for whom we would coin 
our hearts, it is not in human nature that we should continue to 
retain for you undiminished affection, after all hope of redress shall 
have passed away — or while we shall continue to believe that you 
are visiting us with a hard and cruel oppression, and enforcing a 



3IO 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



cold and heartless policy." In contrast to the true but gloomy 
picture he had drawn, the speaker next most felicitously portrayed 
free trade: ''It looks on all mankind as children of a common 
parent — and the great family of nations as linked together by 
mutual interests. Sir, as there is a religion, so I believe there is a 
politics of nature. Cast your eyes over this various earth — see 
its surface diversified with hills and valleys, rocks and fertile fields. 
Notice its different productions — its infinite variety of soil and 
climate. See its mighty rivers winding their way to the very 
mountain's base, and thence guiding man to the vast ocean, di- 
viding, yet connecting Nations. Can any man who considers 
these things, with the eye of a philosopher, not read the design of 
the great Creator (written legibly in his works), that his children 
should be drawn together in a free commercial intercourse, and 
mutual exchanges of the various gifts with which a bountiful 
providence has blessed them ? Commerce, Sir, restricted even as 
she has been, is the great source of civilization and refinement 
all over the world. Next to the Christian religion, I consider Free 
Trade, in its largest sense, as the greatest blessing that can be con- 
ferred upon any people." It was not free trade, pure and simple, 
that he advocated, but a tariff for revenue, to defray the expenses 
of government, limiting "protection to articles necessary to national 
defence" ; but that fact did not destroy the force and beauty of the 
passage quoted. From this he passed to a consideration of the 
inequality and injustice of Clay's proposition: "We tell you. Sir, 
that the protecting duties operate as a tax upon us and as a bounty 
to the tariff States. We insist that it is a violation of the principles 
on which our government is founded and reduces us to a state of 
colonial vassalage — and this it substantially does, if we are not 
mistaken in its operation, and Mr. Grattan's definition of a colony 
is the true one: 'A country governed in reference to the interest 
of another.' " After a thorough and exhaustive review of the sub- 



STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTH CAROLINA 311 

ject, which the above gives but the most imperfect conception of, 
he closed with an appeal which should have protected him for all 
time from the accusation of " nourishing the seeds of disunion." 
" Sir, I call upon gentlemen upon all sides of the House to meet us 
in the true spirit of conciliation and concession. Remove, I ear- 
nestly beseech you, from among us this never failing source of 
contention. Dry up at its source this fountain of the waters of 
bitterness. Restore that harmony that has been disturbed — that 
mutual affection and confidence which has been impaired. It is 
in your power to do it this day ; but there is but one means under 
heaven by which it can be effected, and that is by doing equal 
justice to all. And be assured that he to whom the country shall 
be indebted for this blessing will be considered as the second 
founder of the republic. He will be regarded in all after times as 
the ministering angel, visiting the troubled waters of our political 
dissensions and restoring to the element its healing virtues." ^ 

* Speech of R. Y. Hayne, " Reduction of the Tariff." Printed by Jonathan 
Elliott, 1832 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, p. 43. 



I 



CHAPTER XIX 

CLAY THREATENS SOUTH CAROLINA IN HIS REPLY. HAYNE'S ERROR 
IN SUPPORTING CLAY, WEBSTER AND CALHOUN IN THEIR 
OPPOSITION TO VAN BUREN'S APPOINTMENT. HE SUPPORTS 
BENTON IN SUSTAINING JACKSON'S VETO OF THE BANK BILL 
AGAINST CLAY AND WEBSTER 

Hayne's speech was replied to by Ewing of Ohio, in a strong, 
fair presentation of the opposing argument; and by Clay, with 
all the force and power that great debater could bring to bear upon 
it, marked by the usual intemperance and inexactitude of that 
statesman. Following the example of Webster, in the great debate. 
Clay spared his real opponent, in this case, Hayne, and fell heavily 
upon old Senator Smith of Maryland, who was for concessions to 
the South. Ewing and Clay both did attack Hayne's weakest 
point; but not as efifectively as they might have done, they sharing, 
in all probability his belief that manufactures could not prosper 
in the South. Of the two speeches, Ewing's was pitched upon the 
higher plane, and from it Hayne, later, drew a strong argument 
in support of his great railroad scheme. Clay's speech was rather 
truculent in parts, although very complimentary to Hayne, from 
whom he sought to draw some admission which might enable him 
to emulate Webster's peroration in behalf of the Union. But 
Hayne refused to be drawn, and so clearly expressed himself that 
Clay was obliged to express his satisfaction, which he did as follows : 
"I am happy to hear this explanation. But, Sir, it is impossible 
to conceal from our view the facts that there is great excitement 
in South Carolina; that the protective system is openly and vio- 

312 



CLAY THREATENS SOUTH CAROLINA IN HIS REPLY 313 

lently denounced in popular meetings and that the Legislature had 
declared its purpose of resorting to counteracting measures — a 
suspension of which has only been submitted to for the purpose of 
allowing Congress to retrace its steps. With respect to this Union, 
Mr. President, the truth cannot be too generally proclaimed, nor 
too strongly inculcated, that it is necessary to the whole and all 
the parts; necessary to those parts indeed in different degrees; 
but vitally necessary to each, and that threats to disturb or dis- 
solve it, coming from any of the parts, would be quite as indiscreet 
and improper as would be threats from the residue to exclude those 
parts from the pale of its benefits. The great principle which lies 
at the foundation of all free government is that the majority must 
govern, from which there is or can be no appeal but to the sword. 
That majority ought to govern wisely, equitably, moderately and 
constitutionally; but govern it must, subject only to that terrible 
appeal. If ever one or several States, being a minority, can by 
menacing a dissolution of the Union succeed in forcing an abandon- 
ment of great measures deemed essential to the interests and pros- 
perity of the whole, the Union from that moment is practically 
gone. It may linger on in form and name; but its vital spark 
has fled forever. Entertaining these deliberate opinions, I would 
entreat the patriotic people of South Carolina to pause. . . . To 
advance is to rush on certain and inevitable disgrace and destruc- 
tion." ' 

There is truth in this, undeniable truth, and true states- 
manship would have avoided the risk, save under an imperative 
necessity, making it incumbent to back up words with deeds. 
A concession to an appeal at this time would have been true wis- 
dom. Yet Clay was the one prominent man whose egotism stood 
in the way of a just settlement. John Quincy Adams and Andrew 

' Speech of Henry Clay in " Defence of the American System." Printed by Gales 

& Seaton, p. 31. 



314 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Jackson both desired concessions. Webster was quiescent; Clay 
alone obdurate and threatening. He pushed through his amend- 
ment, which was passed by a vote of 23 for, to 18 ^ against. 
Webster and his great admirer, Chambers of Maryland, 
failed to vote, as also Naudain of Delaware, Dallas of Pennsyl- 
vania, Ruggles of Ohio, Robinson of Illinois and Mangum of 
North Carolina, all of whom did vote with the majority on the final 
vote, except Mangum, who voted with the minority. Defeated for 
the Presidency in the same year, and realizing that South Carolina 
had put the matter to the test, Clay was mainly instrumental in 
forcing Congress in the following year to retrace the steps he had 
most positively insisted upon that body taking in this. 

Later in this last session, Hayne joined with Clay and Webster 
in refusing to confirm the appointment of Van Buren as Minister 
to Great Britain, according to the Unionist press of his own State, 
on account of "the supposed influence of Van Buren in breaking 
up the cabinet, " ^ and according to the Savannah Gazette, by whom 
he was designated as the "corypheus" of the Free Trade party, 
because Van Buren had produced a breach between the first and 
second officers of the government. This was not sufficient ground 
for his action, and, as he subsequently declared, the step was taken 
at the dictates of party, was against his judgment, " was unwise and 
impolitic" ^ and made Van Buren President. Calhoun, however, 
according to Benton, thought that it would kill Van Buren. 

Webster's failure to vote for or against Clay's amendment to the 
tariff bill had been noted in South Carolina, and W. Gilmore 
Simms, in the leading Union paper, had asked, "Why?" declaring 
in answer to his own inquiry that "a question like the one before 
him, of such vital interest to all parties in the Union — to the Union 

* "Abridgment of the Debates of Congress," Vol. 11, pp. 425-513. 
' City Gazette, March 9, 1832. 
' Courier, 1839. 



CLAY THREATENS SOUTH CAROLINA IN HIS REPLY 315 

itself — is not to be avoided by the honest patriot.^ In the appor- 
tionment bill, Webster had Hayne's support as long as he pushed 
it; but when, dissatisfied with the trend of legislation, he sought 
to block it, Hayne voted against him. It being now realized that 
no concessions were to be expected from Congress, the State Rights 
party proceeded to name Hayne for the post of Governor, with 
Calhoun to succeed him in the Senate, the City Gazette, no longer 
edited by Simms but still union in sentiment, declaring: "It is ad- 
mitted that the former gentleman is injudiciously pitted against 
Clay and Webster, and, nullification out of the question, Mr. 
Calhoun's place should be in front with these two formidable 
politicians." ^ Yet the same paper immediately after states that 
"Mr. Hayne, along with Clay and Webster, has taken the most 
active part in warring, as well against the foreign as the domestic 
policy of General Jackson's administration." ^ While a few days 
later it publishes an extract from the Alexandria Gazette, which 
certainly does not seem to indicate that Hayne was suffering from 
contrast with any members of the Senate. "Mr. Hayne's speech 
against the pension bill is called a splendid one. We had the pleas- 
ure of hearing him. Mr. Hayne is an orator of the finest mould 
and best stamp. We admire his ardor, his enthusiasm. We like 
to see him warm with his subject and blazing out with finest zeal. 
There is something in his manner which is irresistibly pleasing. 
His is the kindling eloquence which so much excites the passions. 
He is an ornament to his State, to the Senate and to the Country." * 
Meanwhile, within South Carolina, the Unionists were striving to 
block nullification with a call for a convention of Southern States, 
and so earnestly that one of them. Congressman Blair, proposed 
in such to move for "a revenue tariff or separation, peaceably if 
we can, forcibly if we must." ^ Apparently unaffected by the 

* City Gazette, March 30, 1832. * Ihid., April 30, 1832. 

' Ibid., May i, 1832. * Ibid., May 16, 1832. ^ Ibid., May 12, 1832. 



3i6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

political strife, the railroad moved on and was now opened for 
traflfic from Charleston as far as New Summerville, a distance of 
2 2 miles. And now to add to the completeness of his victory on 
the tariff, and thoroughly equip him for his campaign for the Presi- 
dency, Clay brought in his Bank Bill, never dreaming that Jack- 
son would dare to veto it on the eve of an election, which was 
exactly what Jackson did do. Clay and Webster strove in vain to 
pass it over the veto, in place of the necessary two-thirds, rallying 
only 22; while Benton, assisted by Hayne, ranged 19 in opposition. 
So closed this most important congressional session, in which the 
last appeal to reason having been denied, preparations immediately 
began for an appeal of a different nature. Hayne' s nine years in 
the Senate, apart from the great controversy with Webster, were 
marked by four great utterances on questions of the profoundest 
importance, indicating such thorough study, complete grasp, keen- 
ness of analysis and amplitude of illustration, that no man to-day 
is so learned that he will not find profit from their perusal. His 
speech on the pension system is a great and convincing argument, 
which time has thoroughly vindicated. His two speeches on the 
tariff are so exhaustive, so luminous, so reasonable and so grandly 
eloquent, that they can scarcely be added to to-day. His speech 
on the negro question, apart from the mournful prophetic note, 
later illustrated by history, is, in its nature, so profoundly thought- 
ful that it will take more than a century from the time of its 
delivery for its great wisdom to be accurately estimated. 




« 



JAMES HAMILTON, Jr., 1832. 



BOOK III 

THE APPEAL TO FORCE 

CHAPTER I 

THE NULLIFICATION CONVENTION. HENRY MIDDLETON'S POINT. 
HAYNE ELECTED GOVERNOR, FLOYD FOR PRESIDENT. 
HAYNE's INAUGURAL 

With the adjournment of Congress in July, the contest opened in 
Charleston, between Union men and nullifiers, over the election of 
Intendant and Wardens for that city, in which the nullifier, H. L. 
Pinckney, received 1112 votes to 950 cast for H. A. De Saussure, 
the Unionist candidate,^ yet in the very heat of which the Unionist 
press of that city felt constrained to allude to "the spirit of mag- 
nanimity " " with which Hayne had conducted a controversy with 
Drayton. Not content with this, Hayne exerted himself to secure 
every opportunity for a fair and true expression of opinion on the 
approaching, more important election of members of the Legisla- 
ture, at which the question of calling or not calling a convention to 
nullify the tariff act would be decided ; and a committee, consist- 
ing of R. Y. Hayne, Henry Deas, Paul Axson, Thomas Lehre, Jr., 
and Charles Parker, in behalf of the State Rights and Free Trade 
party, and William Drayton, James L. Petigru, F. Y. Porcher, 
John Robinson and John Stoney for the Unionists, drew up a set 
of rtiles to conduct same.^ 

* City Gazette, Sept. 15, 1832. » Ibid., Sept. 5, 1832. 

' Ihid., Sept. 14, 15, 1832. 

3«7 



3i8 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Some extracts from the correspondence of J. L. Petigru give a 
view from the Unionist side. Under date of September 20 he 
writes: "As to our prospects, they are not as flattering as I could 
wish. . . . Cheves's second number is coming out. He ought to 
put his name to it. Occasional reviews is a ridiculous title for a 
controversial, political pamphlet. As far as the manner of pub- 
lishing can weaken the effect of his opinions, he has made sure of 
depriving them of any dangerous authority." And again: "Of 
course you have seen Calhoun's last piece. I think that it requires 
answering, and that he is entitled to some credit for the skill with 
which he has put together his materials. But it is a paltry affair. 
Disconnected from the excitement of the day, the reasoning would 
be little attended to. He has abandoned the old ground of each 
party judging for himself, and now stands altogether upon alle- 
giance, the exclusive and absolute allegiance of the citizens to the 
State. There is no such allegiance, and his declaration, that there 
is no such thing as the American People, is unworthy of a citizen. 
... I hope Mr. Cheves will take up this argument and push him 
to the wall." ^ So thoroughly, on the other hand, did his oppo- 
nents respect and esteem Hayne, that in the very hour of their defeat, 
when, after a close contest, by 1448 votes to 1316,^ the State Rights 
party elected their ticket from Charleston to swell the overwhelm- 
ing majority for nullification, the representative Unionist paper 
in Charleston declared, "If General Hamilton will take Calhoun 
and McDufifie with him, he may leave General Hayne and travel 
for six years, and they will find South Carolina the most happy, 
prosperous, well-governed people of God's earth." ^ On conven- 
ing, by a vote of 30 to 13, in the Senate and 96 to 25 in the House, 
the Legislature called the convention to nullify, and Hayne led the 
ticket of delegates from Charleston, the Unionists putting up none, 

' Unpublished correspondence of J. L. Petigru, Sept. 20 and 28, 1832. 
^City Gazette, Oct. 11, 1832. ^ Ibid., Oct. 27, 1832. 



THE NULLIFICATION CONVENTION 319 

Even then, from outside, men looked to him, and Littel of Pennsyl- 
vania addressed him in a communication, concerning a settlement 
containing the germ of reciprocity, with which he asserted the Presi- 
dent was in accord, concluding with the words, "The friends of 
Free Trade and the true American system in the Middle and 
Eastern States have through the long storm looked to the South for 
their ablest pilots." ^ But nullification was now assured, and the 
breezy comment of Mr. Petigru indicates what was expected by 
some. Under date of November 18 he says: "The Government 
is wide awake to the plot of our demagogues, and there will be a 
scene before a great while; for I understand that it was decided 
before the call of the convention that the State shall secede, if 
coercion is attempted. That coercion, very vigorous and effective, as 
far as the old man is concerned, will be employed, there is no room to 
doubt." Continuing the expression of his views, he says that it is 
" hard to predict what Georgia, between the love of sedition and hate 
of Calhoun, will decide on. " ^ The convention met, and Hamilton was 
chosen President. Committees were appointed, and a subcommittee 
consisting of R. Y. Hayne, R. J. Turnbull, George McDufiie and 
Judge Harper were assigned special tasks.^ Harper was to draft 
the ordinance, declaring the tariff act null and void, Turnbull 
was to prepare an address to the people of the State and McDuffie 
one to the people of the Union ; while Hayne was to construct an 
exposition of the proceedings of the State. But before the con- 
vention could fix the time for the adoption of the nullification ordi- 
nance, as February i, 1833, a point was made against its adoption 
at all, and one which deserved attention. Henry Middleton, who 
had succeeded Langdon Cheves as Charleston's representative 
in Congress, and upon his appearance as a candidate for a second 

* Ibid., Nov. 22, 1832. 

' Unpublished correspondence of J. L. Petigru. 

' City Gazette, Nov. 22, 1832. 



320 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

term been obliged to fight a hard battle with Dr. Moser, on the 
ground that the incumbent was no speaker, had, after that victory, 
stood no longer; but filled a diplomatic mission. He had been a 
Governor of the State and was now one of the most distinguished 
supporters of the Unionist cause, and his point deserved serious con- 
sideration ; although it received but scant recognition, its reception 
indicating most forcibly how slight a regard a majority has for the 
arguments of a minority, even when its own cause of action is its 
oppression by a greater majority. Middleton's point (that, in a 
matter affecting the rights of all the people so profoundly as a nul- 
lification, by the State, of acts of the General Government would, 
no convention chosen upon a basis affected by property representa- 
tion properly represented them)^ was based on the principle that 
a revolutionary measure should have for its support the unmis- 
takable majority of the people who may be called on to carry it 
through. But it was brushed aside, and the convention adjourn- 
ing, after passage of the ordinance, to take effect, as provided, 
subject to the call of the President, the Legislature reconvened and, 
on motion of Seabrook, the Senate resolved that the Governor be 
requested to intimate to the commanding officer of the Federal 
troops in Charleston that he make arrangements to move the troops, 
now in garrison in the State Citadel, as early as possible, as the 
accommodations of that building were needed for the arms of the 
State,^ a rather ominous hint. At the same time Hayne was criti- 
cised by the Unionist press because of his omission of that portion 
of Governor Hamilton's address which called for the raising 
of 12,000 troops, when he read the same, at a public meeting; but 
as Duff Green, at Washington, about the same time advised cau- 
tious behavior, no doubt Hayne was in accord with Calhoun in 
this. In the rumble of these preparations the echoes from a meet- 
ing in which Unionists and nullifiers joined to commemorate the life 

* City Gazette, Nov. 27, 1832. * Ibid., Dec. 8, 1832. 



THE NULLIFICATION CONVENTION 321 

and deeds of Sir Walter Scott, indicate that the former found the 
propriety of Hayne's utterances and his speech in support of the 
resolutions providing for a memorial, worthy of his most successful 
efforts. On the 6th of December, Floyd of Virginia and Lee 
of Massachusetts were chosen by the Legislature for President 
and Vice-President, respectively,^ on what particular grounds is 
not clear, save that through Calhoun's correspondence it appears, 
Floyd was a close personal friend of Preston (the most active 
propulsive force at that time for nullification), and incidentally 
Governor of Virginia. Two days later, the President's Message 
to Congress made its appearance, almost identical in its reference 
to the tariff with the views expressed by Hayne ^ in his speeches, 
and so mild in its allusions to the proceedings in South Carolina, 
as to give great encouragement to the nullifiers. While the State 
had thus, under the advice of her greatest living son, put herself, 
as he styled it, "on her sovereignty, " far from her borders, a voice 
was raised in defence of one who had been her pride in the days 
of her greatest national influence. John Randolph, in querulous 
old age, had criticised William Lowndes and was promptly rebuked 
by the National Gazette for his injustice to "a dead statesman, 
whose mould was thought to be halloed beyond all hardihood of 
cynical or vindictive malice." ^ 

With the threat to nulhfy the tariff by the second month of the 
ensuing year, and with every energy pushing her great railroad to 
the borders of Georgia, and now having it open for traffic for sixty- 
two miles, South Carohna was certainly making a daring effort 
to break the bonds of "colonial vassalage." On December 13, 
by a vote of 123 for him and 26 blank ballots,^ Hayne was chosen 
Governor, without opposition. He had just attained his forty- 
first year, having been senator for ten years. Of all the leaders of 

* Ihid., Dec. 6, 1832. ' Ibid., Dec. 12, 1832. 

^ Ihid., Dec. 10, 1832. * Ibid., Dec. 13, 1832. 



322 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the nullifiers, the one pressing forward most ardently in the new 
policy, and destined to secure in the near future the handsomest 
indorsement from the victorious faction, the cultivated W. C. 
Preston, has left this account of Hayne's resignation of the senator- 
ship and elevation to the position of Governor: "When towards 
the close of General Hamilton's administration the progress of 
the South Carolina controversy with the General Government 
seemed to lead to a dangerous collision, all those in the State, who 
were actively engaged in it, with one accord, turned their eyes to 
General Hayne as the leader in the approaching crisis. There was 
no division of sentiment, no balancing between him and others. 
His superior, indeed, his perfect fitness for the occasion, left us no 
choice, and compelled him to resign a station suited to his taste, 
adapted to his habits, for which he had peculiar talents and in which 
he was in the midst of circumstances, promising tlie highest grati- 
fication to the loftiest ambition, for one full of difficulties and 
dangers, of labors and uncertainties; but which necessarily in- 
volved, at least, a temporary sacrifice of a wide field of National 
glory for a circumscribed sphere of State duty. His long and ex- 
clusive occupation in public afifairs, to the entire neglect of his 
private, had made it inconvenient for him to encounter the increased 
expenses, which our peculiar condition exacted from the Governor. 
All the difficulties and peculiarities of his position were fully pres- 
ent to his mind, and were the subject of a free and confidential 
conversation between him and several of his friends. The inter- 
view was protracted until a late hour of the night, and concluded 
by this declaration from General Hayne: 'Gentlemen, you think 
my services are needed by the State? She shall have them. I 
acquiesce from a sense of duty. You must give me a liberal sup- 
port, and we will do the best we can.' " ^ Preston, who himself soon 
after entered the United States Senate, declares of the members 

'O'Neall," Bench &Bar," Vol. 2, p. 20. 



THE NULLIFICATION CONVENTION 323 

of that body, that Hayne ''had left upon their minds a feeling of 
profound respect, and many of its wisest and best members regarded 
him with love and admiration. Judge White, especially, often 
spoke of him with enthusiasm, and declared that he had known 
no man more fit for the Presidency of the United States — a sen- 
timent in which very many concurred." Of Hayne's inaugural 
as Governor, ]\Ir. Preston declared that it "was the most successful 
display of eloquence" he had "ever heard," and this, it must be 
borne in mind, was after he had obtained the opportunity of hearing 
the giants of the United States Senate in discussions, in which he 
himself bore no unworthy part. Yet he thought the reading of 
the inaugural could not properly convey any adequate idea of " the 
images which the speaking of it left upon the mind." If in the 
perusal of it there be lacking those attributes of kindling eloquence 
the tone, the bearing and the appropriate gesture, yet the high pur- 
pose and devotion to duty as he saw it, lend to it great dignity and 
force. Opening in a tone of depression or melancholy, which 
a thorough appreciation of his position made almost inevitable, it 
rises without a suspicion of gasconade to a firm yet discreet presenta- 
tion of the State's case, which almost impells argument in reply, 
before force could be resorted to, and ends with an animating 
appeal. Extracts convey some idea of the views of the man, if 
but little of the power of the speech. "Fellow-citizens of the 
Senate and House of Representatives," be began, "I appear before 
you in obedience to your commands to take upon myself the dis- 
charge of the important duties you have imposed upon me. The 
office of Chief Magistrate of the State is at all times one of high 
dignity and trust, and assumes at the present juncture very great 
and fearful responsibility, and believe me when I say, I enter on its 
duties with a sincere distrust of my abilities. These considera- 
tions have not deterred me, however, from attempting the discharge 
of the duties confided to me, convinced that every man owes a duty 



324 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

to his country which he is bound to perform at every sacrifice." 
He then asks his hearers to bear with him, while he indicates the 
difficuhies. "The intense excitement that prevails in the bosom 
of our State, the evils from which we are threatened from without 
and the embarrassments that exist at home, satisfy me that 
exigencies will arise, during which let your chief magistrate act 
as he may, he will be compelled to encounter reproach and rep- 
rehension." These difficulties, however, he declared would not 
shake his determination to do his duty, and he pledged himself to 
uphold the sovereign authority of the State, with regard to which 
he acknowledged no paramount allegiance elsewhere. The carry- 
ing into effect of the ordinance of the convention and every act of 
the Legislature and judgment of the courts founded on the same, 
he asserted, he would strive faithfully to perform ; while in admin- 
istering the ordinary affairs of the office he would "endeavor 
to reconcile the discontent which prevails among our people, to 
allay party animosity and to bring all of our citizens to a recollection 
that we are members of one family, and that our highest and con- 
stant aim should be in the greatest degree to promote each other's 
happiness." Passing from this, he states his case: "After ten 
years of unavailing remonstrance, in common with other Southern 
States, South Carolina has in the face of her sisters of the confeder- 
ation and the world put herself upon her sovereignty. She has 
declared in the most solemn manner that the acts of Congress, 
imposing duties on the importation of foreign commodities for the 
protection of manufacturers, shall not be enforced within her 
borders. . . . She was compelled to assert her just rights or sink 
into a state of colonial vassalage. What steps will be taken in the 
present emergency by the other States, it is impossible for us to 
foresee. If South Carolina is not relieved, either by a satisfactory 
adjustment of the tariff or by a general convention of all the States, 
she has declared before God and Man that she will maintain the 



THE NULLIFICATION CONVENTION 325 

position that she has assumed; nor will she change it until her 
wrongs are redressed, or until some mode is pointed out that will 
relieve her of her burthens. She is anxiously desirous of peace; 
she has no wish to dissolve the political bonds which connect her 
with the other States ; but, with Thomas Jefferson, she does not 
regard the dissolution of the Union as the greatest of evils; she 
regards one as greater, viz., submission to a government of unlimited 
power. She has regarded the present tariff as the settled policy 
of the government; but if deceived, is willing to be undeceived. 
South Carolina desires that the question may be settled, whether 
the General Government possesses the power to make it the un- 
alterable policy of the country. She appeals to the Constitution, 
as it was originally adopted, not as it is at present converted into 
an instrument of oppression. Standing on the basis of the Consti- 
tution, she cannot think that an attempt will be made to drive her 
from her position by force. She will regard any attempt to force 
her into submission as severing the tie which connects her with the 
confederated States." Then, after an argument to show why 
success should follow the attempt to have the question settled, he 
concludes with an invocation, which breathes the spirit of high 
resolve: "Fellow-citizens, this is our own, our native land. The 
soil of South Carolina is rich with precious blood shed in defence of 
the sacred liberties we have received as our hostage and which we 
are bound to transmit, unimpaired, to posterity. Here all the 
endearments which render our lives pleasant are to be found. 
Here are the cherished monuments of our former happiness. Here 
repose in everlasting silence the bones of our ancestors. Here are 
treasured up all the hopes that bind us to our country. Let us 
resolve, then, that whatever others do, although they may desert 
us in the present struggle and give aid and success to our enemies, 
we will venture our all for Carolina." * He then, in a few words, 

' City Gazette, Dec. 15, 1832. 



326 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

announced himself "ready in the solemn form prescribed in the 
Constitution to dedicate" himself "to the service of the State." 
This inaugural put the policy of nullification, in its application 
to the question at issue, in the very best aspect in which it could 
be viewed as a mode of setthng "whether the General Govern- 
ment possesses the power to make it (the tarifif as it then was) 
the unalterable policy of the country." The hint that she w^ould 
submit, if a general convention of the States decided against her, 
strengthened the position of the nullifying State. A fair adjust- 
ment of the tariff or the inequitable exercise of power sanctioned, 
not by mere numbers in the Federal representative body, but by 
States as well, was an unconscious approach to the referendum. 
The placing of Hayne in the post of power and of danger was 
wise. Doubtless, to some extent, his statements were not altogether 
palatable to extremists; but by such their hands were tied and 
opponents outside estopped from immediate action, and thus time 
afforded for a settlement. Personally agreeable to both the Presi- 
dent and his extremely able Secretary of State, Livingston, it may 
be well believed that both of them were very loath to sacrifice 
Hayne, without an attempt first to induce him by argument to 
recede ; and so was produced that remarkable State paper, known 
as Jackson's proclamation, but which bears all the earmarks of 
Livingston, the strongest presentation of the opposing argument to 
nullification ever penned. 



CHAPTER II 

CALHOUN SUCCEEDS HAYNE IN THE SENATE. THE PRESIDENT'S 
PROCLAMATION. ITS FORCE AS ESTIMATED BY THE LEGISLA- 
TURE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS'S OPINION 
OF IT AND OF HAYNE'S REPLY 

Upon the day following that in which the Governor had been 
chosen, the vacancy in the Senate had been supplied by the election 
of Calhoun, by a vote of exactly the same number, but cast in 
a slightly different manner. In place of the 123 votes cast for 
Hayne for Governor, only 121 were cast for Calhoun for senator; 
while instead of the 26 blank ballots cast in the gubernatorial 
election, 28 votes were divided between others, named for the 
senatorship ; still Calhoun's election was overwhelming, if it could 
not be said of it, as was the case with Hayne's, that it was without 
opposition. From the time of his election until December 28 ^ 
nothing was heard of Calhoun, and all attention was concentrated ! 
upon the issue joined between President and Governor ; and from 
the terms of the Proclamation, so different from the placid Message 
which had preceded it, there can be no doubt but that the inaugural 
drew the Proclamation, and Hayne should accordingly be known 
to our national history for drawing an argument in support of 
the Union and against nullification, of distinctly greater strength 
and power than that which " he drew from the greatest of American 
orators, the greatest oration of his life," even though that may be. 
Although scarcely any mention is made of the fact, in history, 

* Charleston Mercury, Dec. 28, 1832. 
327 



328 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

as it is usually written, Edward Livingston had participated in the 
great debate in which Hayne and Webster were the shining actors; 
and no contribution, in point of wisdom, equals his statesmanlike 
utterance on that occasion. The perusal even of his incompletely 
reported speech justifies the comment of the correspondent of the 
New York Journal of Commerce, that he was "a model of dignity 
and decorum in the Senate ... a ripe and liberal statesman." ^ 
He did not indorse the remarks of Webster or of Hayne ; but gave 
his own views, for the distinct reason, as alleged by himself, that he 
differed in greater or less degree from every senator who preceded 
him; and that description included almost every speaker in the 
debate. While he inclined much more to the side supported by 
Webster, he sustained the position of Hayne, not only that the 
Constitution was a compact, but "a compact of each one with the 
whole ; not as has been argued (in order to throw a kind of ridicule 
on this convincing part of the argument of my friend from South 
Carolina) with the Government, which was made by such com- 
pact," ^ thereby putting himself in issue not only with Webster, 
to whom he was alluding, but anticipating also the argument of 
Calhoun, in opposition to this view of Hayne, brought out by Cal- 
houn a year later in his letter of July 26,1831. Livingston, indeed, 
distinctly stated that he regarded not only the contention of Hayne, 
that each State possessed a constitutional veto upon any act of the 
whole, whenever in the opinion of the Legislature of such State 
the act was contrary to the Constitution, dangerous, but also the 
contention of Webster, that there was no compact, and the Union 
entirely popular. In fact, the nearest approach to the view of Liv- 
ingston is to be found in the view, as set out by that statesman, 
who contributed most to the framing of that great instrument, in 
the speech in which he pressed its adoption on his native State in 

* City Gazette, April 21, 1830. 

' " Abridgment of the Debates of Congress," Vol. 10, p. 493. 



CALHOUN SUCCEEDS HAYNE IN THE SENATE 329 

1788, Charles Pinckney. The view which had prevailed in South 
Carolina from that time, until, under the vigorous assaults of Smith 
and his following in 1825, it was completely undermined, to be 
overthrown absolutely, in spite of Smith's opposition, by Calhoun 
in 1832. Edward Livingston was now Jackson's Secretary of 
State, and upon him, as the chief adviser of the administration, 
was the responsibility he had foreshadowed in his great argument 
and for which he had "denounced most vehemently the tariflf.'' 
It is impossible to think that the Proclamation was the work of 
any other hand than his. Even with the use of the possibly faulty 
word "nation," the Proclamation fastens with unerring acumen 
upon the weakest point of the opposing argument, as did the sena- 
torial speech, with the simple statement, "We declared ourselves 
a nation by joint not by several acts," and closes with terrific force 
in the continuing declaration, "The Constitution of the United 
States forms a government, not a league, and, whether it be formed 
by compact between the States or in any other manner, its character 
is the same." Then stating that, on account of "the imposing 
nature in which the General Government had been challenged," 
some reasoning concerning the matter would be entered into, the 
indication is distinctly given that the inaugural drew this. After 
reciting the causes of discontent, as occasioned by the tariff and 
the chances of alleviation, the Proclamation says: "It is true that 
the Governor of the State speaks of the submission of their griev- 
ances to a convention of all the States, which he says they sincerely 
and anxiously seek and desire, yet the obvious and constitutional 
mode of obtaining the sense of the other States on the construction 
of the Federal Compact and amending it, if necessary, has never 
been attempted by them who have urged the State on to this 
destructive measure. The first magistrate must have known that 
neither Congress nor any functionary of the government has 
authority to call a convention of the States, unless it be demanded 



330 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

by two-thirds. If they honestly desire a convention, why have they 
not made apphcation in the way the Constitution points out?" 
Evidence, also, is not lacking in the Proclamation that Hayne was 
not the only person conscious of those "embarrassments which 
exist at home." An overwhelming majority of delegates to the 
convention had launched nullification; but it was not a large 
majority of the citizens of the State, and the very considerable 
minority, assembling in convention, even then, were framing their 
protest. But the President was not content to depend upon 
argument alone, and in a sincerely eloquent appeal he called up 
a recollection of the past in the concluding words of his paper: 
"Fellow-citizens of my native State: let me not only admonish 
you as the First Magistrate of our common country not to incur 
the penalty of its laws, but use the influence that a father would 
over his children, whom he saw rushing to certain ruin. In that 
paternal language, with that paternal feeling, let me tell you, my 
countrymen, that you are deluded by men who are either deceived 
themselves or wish to deceive you. . . . There is yet time to show 
that the descendants of the Pinckneys, the Sumters, the Rutledges 
and of the thousand other names which adorn the pages of your 
revolutionary history, will not abandon the Union, to support which 
so many of them fought, bled and died. I adjure you as you 
honor their memory, as you love the cause of freedom, to which they 
dedicated their lives ; as you prize the peace of your country, the 
lives of its best citizens and your own fair fame, to retrace your 
steps." * To say that the Proclamation produced consternation in 
Columbia, would be an exaggeration ; for not the least trace of 
apprehension was disclosed in the behavior of the head of the State, 
and it is not to be doubted that there were others absolutely un- 
daunted; but that it produced distinct perturbation, it seems 
difficult to deny in the light of the description left by him, who next 

* City Gazette, Dec. 17, 1832. 



CALHOUN SUCCEEDS HAYNE IN THE SENATE 331 

to Calhoun and Hayne was probably the most prominent nullifier 
at that time. Of the appearance of the Proclamation, W. C. 
Preston says: "That document which spread terror with its prog- 
ress through the Union arrived in the morning in Columbia where 
the Legislature was then in session, and was at ten o'clock laid 
before the committee of Federal Relations. While that committee 
had it under consideration, the chairman stepped into the Executive 
Chamber and inquired of the Governor whether he would under- 
take a prompt and official reply to the Proclamation. The Gov- 
ernor said, 'I will undertake it if the Legislature so desire.' At 
the meeting of the House, the committee reported the Proclamation, 
with a set of resolutions, amongst which was one requesting the 
Governor to issue his counter proclamation." ^ Mr. Preston goes 
on to state that "two days after in as little time as was neces- 
sary for the mere penmanship, was issued a document whose ele- 
gance of composition, elaborate and conclusive argument, just and 
clear constitutional exposition, confuted all the show of argument 
in the President's Proclamation, tearing away all the subtle dis- 
guises of its labored sophistry, and rousing, by its tone of proud 
defiance, devoted patriotism and spirited rebuke, all the highest 
feelings of the country." While it may be impossible for many 
to share this opinion with Mr. Preston, they may, on the other hand, 
readily agree with him that "no performance could have been 
more perfect for the occasion." All that it was possible to do, 
Hayne did ; and that he produced a reply of distinct power, we need 
not look to friends for the evidence of, having the testimony of a 
most unfriendly critic. John Quincy Adams had characterized 
the President's Proclamation as " a blistering plaster." ^ That, for 
Adams, was high praise. In his diary for the date December 26, 1832, 
appears this entry: "I received from A. Fitch, a copy of Governor 

» O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 20. 

* "Memoirs of John Quincy Adams," Vol. 8, p. 511. 



332 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina counter proclamation to that 
of the President of the United States. It is dated the 20th, and is 
full of very bitter words." ^ 

But it was not the President's Proclamation alone that the 
nullifiers had to meet. The Remonstrance and Protest of the 
Union and State Rights party in South Carolina was issued just 
at this juncture, and framed as it was by James L. Petigru and 
C. G. Memminger, in consultation with Judge D. E. Huger, it was 
a protest not to be lightly disregarded, and some account of it is 
necessary, for it well represented one of what the Governor had 
alluded to as ''the embarrassments that exist at home." 

The Union convention met in Columbia during the legislative 
session. Thomas Taylor (the father or son of the ex-Senator and 
ex-Governor) was the President, and Henry Middleton, David John- 
son, Richard I. Manning and Starling Tucker, Vice-Presidents.^ 
The convention was representative of a strong minority, and, without 
considering anything beyond the first four allegations contained in 
the Remonstrance, these will be found to constitute a comprehen- 
sive indictment of the nullification convention: "First: Because 
the people of South Carolina elected delegates to the said con- 
vention, under the solemn assurance that these delegates would do 
no more than devise a peaceable and constitutional remedy for the 
evils of the protective tariff without endangering the imion of the 
States. Instead of which the convention has passed an ordinance 
in direct violation of all pledges. Second : Because the said ordi- 
nance has insidiously assailed one of the inalienable rights of man 
by endeavoring to enslave all freedom of conscience by that 
tyrannical engine of power, a test oath. Third : Because it has 
disfranchised nearly one-half of the freemen of South Carolina, for 
an honest difference of opinion, by declaring that those whose 

• " Memoirs of John Quincy Adams," Vol. 8, p. 512. 

* City Gazette, Dec. 21, 1832. 



CALHOUN SUCCEEDS HAYNE IN THE SENATE 



333 



conscience will not permit them to take the oath shall be deprived 
of every office, civil or military. Fourth : Because it has deprived 
the citizens of the right of trial by jury." ^ 

Whether this indictment could be sustained in whole or in part, or 
whether the acts complained of were the natural means by which 
the government sought to sustain the power confided to it by 
majority of the voters, this publicly voicing of them, as acts of 
oppression, by an energetic, determined and intelligent minority, 
representing no small proportion of the wealth, numbers and re- 
finement of the State's population and a goodly number of her 
hardiest sons, constituted no light embarrassment. But Hayne 
had not been blind to the difficulties of his position, and now, as 
they pressed on him, met them with dauntless resolution. It was 
no time for temporizing, no time for propitiation — he must yield or 
issue what was practically a defiance; but in issuing his defiance 
to the threat of coercion which the President's Proclamation con- 
tained, some attempt must be made to meet the powerful argument 
it propounded. Every flaw which could be found therein must be 
disclosed, and wherever a blow could be given him, in whose name 
it was issued, that must be delivered, if it could but serve to weaken 
the force of the paper. Hayne had, in addition to this, a personal 
grievance, which he keenly felt ; but was of too chivalric a nature 
to make public. Not to aid his cause, dear as it was to his heart, 
would he use the private correspondence of the President, and this 
is the true explanation why that fierce, stern, hot-tempered and 
fearless veteran took so meekly the chidings he received, and 
cherished through them all an abiding affection for the younger 
man. 

The immense power of the argument contained in the Presi- 
dent's Proclamation is not only shown by the bare recital of the 
act by which South Carolina had empowered her deputies to attend 

* City Gazette, Dec. 21, 1832. 



334 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but is glaringly apparent in 
the phraseology of the resolution in which the Governor was re- 
quested to reply to the President's discussion of the Constitution, 
by the Legislature of 1832. The following was the resolution: 
"Whereas the President of the United States has issued his procla- 
mation : Resolved that his excellency the Governor be requested 
forthwith to issue his proclamation, warning the good people of 
the State against the attempts of the President of the United States 
to seduce them from their allegiance, exhorting them to disregard 
his vain menaces and to be prepared to sustain the dignity and 
protect the liberty of the State against the arbitrary measures pro- 
posed by the President." 

Could compliment to the argument go farther? His menaces 
were vain and could be disregarded ; but the people must be warned 
against the seductive power of his arguments. As an argument is 
addressed to the reason, and it can only seduce when its force is 
so irresistible as to captivate, that seems to have been what the 
Legislature chiefly feared and hoped the Governor might be able 
to counteract. 



CHAPTER III 

hayne's defiant reply to the president's proclamation and 
why it contained some bitter words 

There were some portions of the Proclamation which Hayne 
as a well-trained lawyer realized it was senseless to attempt to 
rebut, and these he simply refrained from alluding to at all, bending 
all his energies to the strong assault he made upon what could 
be assailed. Secession being easier to defend than nullification, 
he began by warning his hearers or readers against "the specious 
but false doctrines that a State has no right to secede ; in a word, that 
ours is a national government, in which the people of all the States 
are represented, and by which we are constituted one people, and 
that our representatives in Congress are all representatives of the 
United States, and not of the particular States from which they 
come — doctrines which uproot the very foundations of our politi- 
cal system, annihilate the rights of the State and utterly destroy the 
liberties of the citizen." One cannot help wondering how Hayne 
could have permitted the citizens of Boston and Virginia to put him 
in the attitude of representing them, by presenting petitions and 
advocating same on the floor of the Senate, if this was so danger- 
ous to the liberties of the citizens. But Hayne was not just at this 
time occupied with anything else than an advocacy of nullification, 
and for such he was arguing. Condensing the opposing argument, 
he declared that it was an " accurate delineation, drawn with a bold 
hand, of a great consolidated empire 'one and indivisible,' " which 
was just about what A. P. Butler, in 1825, had asserted it was, for 

335 



336 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

some purposes, when he and others were contending against ex-Sen- 
ator Smith and his followers in defence of what were supposed to 
be the views of Calhoun and Hayne at that time. Having reached 
a position upon which he could base an argument, Hayne proceeded 
to build as follows: "It is the natural and necessary consequence 
of the principles thus authoritatively announced by the President, 
as constituting the very basis of our political system, that the Federal 
Government is unlimited and supreme, being the exclusive judge 
of the extent of its own powers, the laws of Congress, sanctioned by 
the executive and the judiciary, whether passed in direct violation 
of the Constitution and rights of the States or not, are the supreme 
law of the land." And here taking advantage of a slip in the 
Proclamation, he pressed it into service with effect, declaring: 
"Hence it is that the President obviously considers the words 
'made in pursuance of the Constitution' mere surplusage, and 
when he professes to recite the provisions of the Constitution 
on the subject, he states that * our social compact, in express terms, 
declares that the laws of the United States, its Constitution and the 
treaties made under it, are the supreme law of the land, ' and speaks 
throughout of the explicit supremacy given to the laws of the Union 
over those of the States, as if a law of Congress was, of itself supreme ; 
while it was necessary to the validity of a treaty that it should 
be made in pursuance of the Constitution." From Livingston's 
slight slip, and the fact that it was Jackson and not Livingston 
who issued the Proclamation, Hayne was given an opening, and if 
Livingston's apparently careless statement was really an attempt 
to save Jackson from the effect of his former attitude with regard 
to a treaty, which a State had nullified with his approval, it is only 
an illustration of the danger of any attempt to mislead a watchful 
and able opponent ; for on this misstatement Hayne now fell with 
redoubled force, declaring : " Such, however, is not the provision 
of the Constitution. That instrument expressly provides that the 



HAYNE'S DEFIANT REPLY 337 

Constitution and laws of the United States, which shall be made 
in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land, anything 
in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith- 
standing. Hence it will be seen that a law of Congress as such can 
have no validity, unless made in pursuance of the Constitution. An 
unconstitutional act is therefore null and void, and the only point 
which can arise in this case is whether to the Federal Government, 
or any part thereof, has been reserved the right to decide authorita- 
tively for the States the question of constitutionality. If this 
is so, to which of the departments, it may be asked, is the right of 
final judgment given ? If it be to Congress, then is Congress not 
only elevated above the other departments of the Federal Govern- 
ment, but is put above the Constitution itself. This, however, the 
President has publicly and solemnly denied, claiming and exer- 
cising, as is known to all the world, the right to refuse to execute 
acts of Congress and solemn treaties, even after they had received 
the sanction of every department of the Federal Government." 

If this were a resort to the Tu quoque, it surely was pressed 
well home. The President's previous approval of nullification did 
not make nullification right; but it hardly lay in his mouth to 
say it was treason. Continuing his inquiry, Hayne suggested that 
it would scarcely be pretended that the executive possessed the 
right of deciding finally and exclusively as to the validity of acts 
of Congress ; while " that it belongs to.the judiciary, except so far as 
may be necessary to the decisions of questions which may inciden- 
tally come before them, in cases of law and equity, has been denied 
by none more strongly than the President himself, who, on a 
memorable occasion, refused to acknowledge the binding authority 
of the Federal court, and claimed for himself, and had exercised, 
the right of enforcing the laws not according to their judgment, but 
his own understanding. And yet when it serves the purpose of 
bringing odium upon South Carolina, ' his native state,' the Presi- 



S3^ ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

dent has no hesitation in regarding the attempt of a State to re- 
lease herself from the control of the Federal judiciary in a matter 
affecting her sovereign rights, as a violation of the Constitution." 

When Hayne left this, he passed from his strongest ground, and 
although his next point was made with some skill, yet it cannot 
stand the test of examination and contains an unnecessary ref- 
erence to one who was not a party to the controversy. Blithely, 
he declares: "It surely cannot admit of a doubt that by the 
Declaration of Independence the several colonies became free, 
sovereign and independent States, and our political history will 
abundantly show that at every subsequent change in their condi- 
tion, up to the formation of our present Constitution, the States 
preserved their sovereignty. The discovery of this new feature in 
our system, that the States exist only as members of the Union, 
that before the Declaration of Independence we were known only 
as United Colonies, and that even under the articles of Confedera- 
tion the States were considered as forming collectively one Nation, 
without any right of refusing to submit to any decision of Con- 
gress, was reserved to the President and his immediate predecessor. 
To the latter belongs the invention, and upon the former will un- 
fortunately fall the evils of reducing it to practice." Continuing, 
Hayne claimed that instead of a nation what was constituted was a 
Federal government, in which he was correct ; but when he added 
that "the States are as sovereign now as they were prior to the 
entry into the compact — that the Federal Government is a confeder- 
ation in the nature of a league or alliance, by which so many sov- 
ereign States agreed to exercise their sovereign powers conjointly 
with a common agency or functionary," he came unavoidably into 
collision with the true basis of the President's Proclamation and 
failed utterly to overthrow it, because it could not be overturned, and 
nothing establishes this more irresistibly than the act by which 
South Carolina commissioned her deputies to attend the Consti- 



HAYNE'S DEFIANT REPLY 339 

tutional Convention in 1787.^ When, therefore, Hayne further 
added, " South Carolina as a sovereign State has an inherent right 
to do all the acts which by the laws of Nations any prince or 
potentate may of right do," he furnished his adversaries with the 
occasion for trenchant criticism. From the Virginia and Kentucky 
resolutions he did draw support ; but when he assayed to meet the 
practical objection to nullification, he was helplessly pathetic: 
"The only plausible objection to Nullification is that it may be 
abused. But this danger is believed to be altogether imaginary." 
And yet New England, Georgia, Pennsylvania and the President 
might be said, and almost by his own argument, to have established 
the contrary. The one argument for nullification was the incon- 
testable fact that it had been repeatedly used, although, on this 
occasion, attention was riveted upon the proceedings as it had never 
been before, as Livingston well put it, "on account of the imposing 
nature in which the General Government had been challenged." 
But apart from all merit of the argument, the fact that an argument 
had been entered into was a point gained, and for this the inaugural 
must be credited. Not only was that the case, but the change of 
tone from inaugural to counter proclamation was an advance; 
for in the latter there was not a breath of hesitation or depression — 
from first to last it rang defiant, and with it, under orders from the 
Governor, the Adjutant-General of the State called for troops. 

In explanation of the somewhat personal tone of Hayne' s reply 
to the Proclamation, and the " bitter words " which Adams noted in it, 
the inquiry of the correspondent of the New York Courier and 
Enquirer is interesting, coming to light, as it did, a little later: 
"Did General Jackson or did he not, in 1830, address a note to 
Colonel Hayne approving of his celebrated speech, now so much 

* An Act for Appointing Deputies from the State of South Carolina to a Con- 
vention of the United States to be held in the Month of May, a.d. 1787. Statutes 
at Large, So. Ca., Vol. 5, p. 4. 



340 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

condemned by those who laud the Proclamation? I believe he 
did." Continuing, the correspondent avers: "When I penned 
that interrogatory, I not only knew that General Jackson had 
written such a letter, but I knew its contents." ^ This inquiry 
provoked comment from the Augusta Chronicle, the editor of which 
asserted : " He, General Jackson, did write such a letter, the contents 
of which have long been known to us and are substantially as 
follows : He told Colonel, or General, Hayne that his speech (on 
Foot's Resolution, explaining and advocating the doctrine of 
nullification) was the best or one of the best he had ever read, and 
that he would have it splendidly bound and placed by the side of 
Mr. Jefferson's works in the best place in his library, and that it 
was peculiarly worthy of so distinguished a station." ^ If this 
statement be true, and it is affirmed by two unimpeached witnesses, 
who state they saw the letter,^ Hayne certainly had some grounds 
for his bitter feelings against the President ; yet not one word con- 
cerning it seems to have fallen from his lips. 

* Charleston Mercury, Feb. i6, 1833, quoting New York Courier and Enquirer, 
Feb. I, 1833. 

^ Charleston Mercury, Feb. 19, 1833. 
'Harris's "Sectional Struggle," p. 331. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE ATTITUDE OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE WITH 
REGARD TO THE PROCLAMATION. THE INTERPOSITION OF 

VIRGINIA. Calhoun's confidence 

The Governor, in accordance with the request of the Legislature, 
had issued his counter proclamation, and Preston, the chairman of 
the committee on Federal Relations, seized on the strongest point 
therein and presented it to the Legislature for promulgation as 
that body's sense of the situation. In the phraseology in which it 
was couched, however, it constituted more of an appeal than a 
defiance, for the resolution was: "That the Proclamation of the 
President is most extraordinary, in that he had silently, and it is 
supposed with entire approbation, noticed our sister State, Georgia, 
avowedly act upon and carry into effect, even to the taking of life, 
principles identical with those denounced by him in South Caro- 
lina." This was an effective revelation of the inconsistency of the 
President, to which Hayne had more indirectly alluded ; but there 
was almost a plaintive note detected in it. Indeed, without the im- 
pressive attitude of the Governor, the State administration would 
have lacked balance and dignity. In his defiant reply, Hayne had 
declared with perfect truth that "the system of tyrants was the 
same in all ages," leaving him, whom the cap fit, to wear it; but 
Holmes in the Legislature, attempting to improve this, had, with 
turgid eloquence, asserted, that " if he was about to die, he would 
not hesitate to declare that the President was the foulest tyrant 
who had ever disgraced the pages of history." Again in the recep- 

341 



342 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

tion of the report of the special committee, upon the memorial of 
Thomas S. Grimke, there was imparted to the proceedings almost 
an element of humor. Mr. Grimke was a very combative, argu- 
mentative Unionist, who had shed a considerable amount of ink .| 
over the nullification episode ; but was esteemed by his opponents 
and intimates as a very worthy gentleman, whose request to be 
excused from military duty the special committee were quite willing 
to grant, and so reported. But Mr. Kirkland objected, not 
unnaturally, on account of the apparent inconsistency of putting 
the State upon her sovereignty, and then excusing people from 
obeying her call. He did not think the Legislature had anything to 
do with a man's conscience, when the State was in danger. Mr. 
Holmes advised agreement with the report, to avoid debate. He 
assured the Legislature that Mr. Grimke was thoroughly respectable 
and sincere, and declared that no one who knew him could fail to 
respect his scruples. But Mr. Bryan declared that he had read Mr. 
Grimke's latest pamphlet, and that it was most inflammatory. " The 
gentleman says he does not wish to fight," he complained, "while 
doing everything to kindle a war." Mr. Frost then explained that 
the committee had considered that in excusing a single citizen, there 
was little danger of others following his example. But Mr. Bryan 
could not be driven from his view by any argument, and insisted on 
a reading ; whereupon, in the words of the reporter for the Mercury, 
" the terms of the pamphlet carried everything before it, and the re- 
port was laid on the table by a general vote." In comment, the 
same paper jocularly declared, "Mr. Grimke is some sort of 
Matthew Carey of the South, and the House was quelled at once 
by the threat of having one of his lucubrations poured upon 
them." ^ 

The great State of Virginia had meanwhile taken up the questions 
involved in the acts of South Carolina and the Federal government, 

• Charleston Mercury, Dec. 24, 1832. 



ATTITUDE OF SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE 343 

and a special committee had reported to the Legislature their 
views thereon, with regard to which we may notice that they found 
the "tariff laws, so far as passed, avowedly and palpably for pro- 
tection, unconstitutional; that they would oppose the tariff by all 
constitutional means and endeavor to procure a reduction and 
that they would cooperate with South Carolina in effecting this 
result." But while sustaining the nullifying State thus far, they 
stated that they "disapprove and regret the means which South 
Carolina has adopted to rid herself of her burden, and the early 
period prescribed for the enforcement of her ordinance." Yet any 
disappointment which this may have occasioned in South Carolina 
should have been completely dispelled by the recording of their ob- 
jection, " in decided terms to the principles assumed in the Presi- 
dent's Proclamation," their deprecation of "the employment of 
force" and their recommendation of "a general convention, if the 
tariff be not adjusted in the present session." 

As in the minds of almost all its advocates at this time nullifi- 
cation was but a means to an end, this action of Virginia was all 
that could be expected, and a private letter from Governor Hayne at 
this date certainly discloses this to be his view. The letter is from 
Charleston, December 29, 1832, to Mr. Silas E. Burrus of New 
York, who indorsed on it, after Hayne's death, that the latter was 
one of his best friends. The letter recites : " I have received your 
letter, covering a Bill of Lading for fruit, for which accept my 
thanks. The vessel has not yet arrived, but is expected daily. 
For your kind wishes I am extremely thankful. Be assured we 
desire neither dissensions nor civil war. We have been compelled 
to nullify, after 10 years of patient endurance & remonstrance, 
as the only means left to cause our complaints to be attended to. 
Let the tariff be modified at a convention of the States called, & 
we shall be content. If this be refused, we shall proceed on our 
course, be the consequences what they may. Our people, at least 



344 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the great majority, will do their duty. The enclosed speech is a 
good index of the public mind. Let our Northern friends ask 
themselves whether people, who think and feel thus, are to be driven 
from the assertion of their rights by threats or even by violence. 
We shall commit no wrong and will repell aggression, come 
from what quarter it may. Still we hope for peace & will pre- 
serve the Constitution and the Union if we can. I will not trouble 
you, however, further with politics. . . ." 

During the period which had intervened between the launching 
of the nullification ordinance and the day prior to the date of this 
letter, nothing seems to have been heard from Calhoun. On 
December 28, 1832, however, it was reported that on the day after 
Christmas he had left South Carolina for Washington,* where 
Congress had met and adjourned for Christmas, a bill to modify 
the tariff having been introduced, and John Quincy Adams's 
call in the House for the papers in reference to the Proclamation, 
negatived by a vote of 106 to 65.^ Calhoun had stopped on his 
way at Richmond, and in the Virginia House of Delegates had 
heard the debate on the report of the committee on Federal Rela- 
tions.^ From Washington, immediately upon his arrival, under 
date of January 10, 1833, he wrote his kinsman, James Edward 
Calhoun: "My dear James, I find things better here than I 
anticipated. Our cause is doing well. Let our people go on; be 
firm and prudent; give no pretext for force, and I feel confident 
of a peaceable and glorious triumph for our cause and the State. 
The prospect is good for a satisfactory adjustment. It begins to 
be felt that we must succeed, and in proportion as that is felt, the 
disposition to adjust the controversy increases. The scheme of 
coercion is abandoned for the present, at least." * 

After having followed the development of the scheme of nuUi- 

* Charleston Mercury, Jan. i, 1833. ' Ibid., Jan. 8, 1833. 

* Ibid., Jan. 4, 1833. *" Correspondence of Calhoun," p. 323. 



i 



ATTITUDE OF SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE 345 

fication, as it is unfolded in the expressions of the great actors, 
concerned at the various stages, in this short epistle, we read the 
quietly expressed opinion of the one man in the United States 
who knew exactly what he intended, and very nearly exactly what 
would be the result. His letter of resignation from the Vice-Pres- 
idency having been communicated to the Senate, he took his seat 
and called for the Message of the President and the papers in the 
case. In the State of South Carolina, Governor Hayne again met 
the situation in a manner exactly in accord with what was deemed 
most appropriate by the masses, and which at the same time com- 
mended itself to his sincere convictions, and while unremitting in 
his preparations for defence of the State, if attacked, by a proclama- 
tion set apart a day for fasting and prayer. Apart from the action 
of Virginia but little public indorsement was accorded the State 
of South Carolina, and so striking was this the case that in the 
prevailing dearth of State resolutions, mention appears in the press 
of the action of one county in Alabama. At the county seat of 
Lowndes County, Alabama, Hayneville,^ resolutions indorsing the 
action of South Carolina were adopted and transmitted to the 
State. The general statement was made later that private offers 
of assistance poured in; but the evidence of such, not by any means 
as impressive, was not made public apparently. Virginia, meantime, 
had been moving most effectively. On the 26th of January, 1833, 
Governor Floyd of Virginia wrote to Governor Hayne that the 
Honorable Benjamin Watkins Leigh had been appointed as a 
commissioner to confer with the representatives of South Carolina, 
and upon the 4th of February this gentleman reached South Caro- 
lina, and at once interviewing the Governor, requested him to 
communicate to the convention the resolutions of the Legis- 
lature of Virginia, and asked for a suspension of the ordinance of 
nullification until the close of the first session of the next Con- 

* Charleston Mercury, Jan. ig, 1833. 



346 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

gress.* Hayne, in reply, assured him that he had already conferred 
with the president of the convention, and further, that " as soon as 
it came to be understood that the Legislature of Virginia had 
taken up the subject in a spirit of friendly interposition, and that a 
bill for the modification of the tariff was actually before Congress, 
it was determined, by the common consent of our fellow-citizens, 
that no case should be made until after the adjournment of the 
present Congress." And by the 13th of February, the president of 
the convention ordered it to convene on March 11. It will 
be seen by this with what loyalty and intrepidity Hayne and 
Hamilton sustained Calhoun. Weaker or more selfish men might 
have capitulated to the Virginia commissioner, with the result 
of a settlement without Calhoun's intervention; for both the at- 
titude of Virginia and the introduction of a bill to reform the tariff 
had been brought about some little while before Calhoun or Clay 
took an active hand in forcing a settlement along lines agreed to 
between them. Benton, who was not averse to playing the part of 
pacificator himself, was deeply chagrined to find that Clay and 
Calhoun were too strong for any combination he could gather 
together, and took his revenge on Calhoun, who failed to accept 
his assistance by narrating the history, as he obtained it from 
Clay, after the latter had quarrelled with Calhoun. 

^ Pamphlets, " Nullification in South Carolina." So. Ca. Hist. Society, Vol. 2, 
p. 91. 



CHAPTER V 

THE DEBATE ON CLAY'S COMPROMISE BILL ON THE TARIFF AND 
WILKINS'S REVENUE COLLECTION BILL. SOUTH CAROLINA 
ACCEPTS THE FIRST AND NULLIFIES THE SECOND 

Benton's account of the secret history of the Compromise of 
1833 is derived from Clay's remembrance of the incidents and his 
narration of them at a later period, from which it would appear 
that Calhoun played a very insignificant part; while by Clay and 
his friend Clayton, South Carolina had been magnanimously res- 
cued from her perilous position, as Jackson was about to hang 
Calhoun, when they intervened. This preposterous story, which 
is completely disproved by the narration of the events as they 
happened, bears all the marks of the egregious vanity of the great 
politician who fathered it. The truth is, that Calhoun, all through 
his life, despite his true greatness, was something of a doctrinaire, 
and attached too great importance to the efficacy of resolutions; 
and now into the abstract propositions concerning government 
he plunged, maintaining the doctrine of State Rights in opposition 
to Forsyth of Georgia, who gave way to Grundy of Tennessee, 
and he in his turn to Webster. Clay, meanwhile, had given notice 
that on the 12th of February he would bring in a bill to modify 
and adjust the tariff, stating that his design was to harmonize the 
conflicting interests of the country and restore peace,* etc. It is 
quite possible, and extremely probable, that negotiations passed 
between him and Calhoun, and he was assured his offer would be 

* Charleston Mercury, Feb. i8, 1833. 
347 



348 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

accepted; but when it is borne in mind that a bill had already 
been introduced in the House to restore the duties to the scale 
of 1816, there were other reasons than magnanimous ones to move 
him. A tariff for revenue, Hayne's view, with protection only for 
articles necessary for national defence, had been the recommenda- 
tion of the victorious Presidential candidate in his Message to 
Congress, and something had to be done by Clay at once, or his 
recent overwhelming defeat would be carried on to an effacement. 
The leaders of the State, whom he had so solemnly warned of the 
ruinous consequences of their course, had unhesitatingly pushed on 
in it. The man whose eloquent appeal for justice he had denied, 
and whose State he had threatened, now as Governor defied the 
Federal administration; and yet that hand which had never 
hesitated to strike before, and ever with terrific force, had been 
stayed by some unseen power or occult influence. Within easy 
reach of Clay was his old companion at arms, with a practical 
power of attorney from the recalcitrant State. Was it not better 
to aid him to a victory than to permit Jackson, unaided, to gain 
one ? To ask himself the question, was to answer it in the affirma- 
tive, and so his bill was introduced, and he made a very clever speech 
in support of it. Doubtless the kindly nature of the man, as well 
known and appreciated as his weaknesses were tolerated through- 
out his long political life, impressed upon his hearers the sincerity 
of his professed objections to bloodshed and civil war; while, under 
the spell of his oratory, many forgot his windy threats of the pre- 
vious year. In his turn he practically apologized for nullification, 
speaking of it as an experiment. He went farther; he asserted 
that he had received assurances, that it was an experiment. He 
cited other cases of practical nullification by other States, the real 
argument in its defence. Then he took a survey of the possibilities 
of sudden change in the tariff, which he would deplore; and then 
he showed how his bill provided for a gradual change. And 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1833 349 

having made an able political speech, he sat down with his usual 
confidence that the result would justify his effort. But he did not 
escape unscathed; for, according to the papers of the day, "Mr. 
Forsyth rose after Mr. Clay and opposed the proposal to introduce 
the bill. He reproached Mr. Clay with having originated all the 
discontents of the times by his advocacy of the American System, 
which he was now seeking credit for allaying." ^ Calhoun's 
statement, however, that he assented to the two principles of the 
bill, viz., that time should be given the manufacturers and that an 
ad valorem duty should be provided for, was received with applause 
by the galleries ; and although both Webster and Dickerson opposed 
the bill, in spite of the suggestion of the latter, that it should be 
referred to the committee on Manufactures, it was referred to a 
select committee, consisting of Clay, Clayton, Calhoun, Grundy, 
Webster, Rives and Dallas. 

While Clay's bill for the reduction of duties was thus put on its 
way, the revenue collection bill, which had been reported by 
Wilkins of Pennsylvania, came up for debate. Calhoun's speech 
on that occasion is described by Benton as a most remarkable 
one, and of a lengthy extract which he quotes, in which Calhoun 
gave his "opinion of the defects of our duplicate form of govern- 
ment (State and Federal), and of the remedy for those defects," 
Benton says, "Every word bears the impress of intense thought." ^ 
There were replies to him; but of all of these none struck the sense 
of the mass of the people as forcibly as Forsyth's : " Much ingenuity 
has been called forth in support of nullification; but mystify it as 
they please, it could not stand the test of argument. The doctrine 
was preposterous; it was a mere web of sophism and casuistry. 
And the arguments in its favor, if analyzed and put through the 
alembic, would result in the double distilled essence of nonsense. 

' Charleston Mercury, Feb. 20, 1833. 

' Benton, "Thirty Years' View," Vol. i, p. 336. 



350 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

But having thus denounced nullification, he would admit that the 
position which South Carolina had taken had served one good pur- 
pose, that of opening the eyes of the country to the injustice done 
to the South by an odious and oppressive tariff. As regarded the 
tariff, the whole South were with South Carolina in the general 
principle of resistance to it; but they differed with her in the mode 
which she had thought fit to adopt. But if the tariff was odious 
and must be finally put an end to, neither could the course of 
South Carolina be defended with safety to the Union. He looked 
forward in anticipation to the period as nigh at hand when the 
protective system must expire, and, in like manner, when nullifica- 
tion would sink into the grave. He hoped to see them buried in the 
same tomb, and willingly then would he pronounce their funeral 
oration and inscribe on their monument, requiescat in pace." ^ 

Thirty-two members of the Senate voted for the revenue col- 
lection or "force " bill. Besides his colleague and himself, Cal- 
houn drew together in opposition to it the two senators from 
Alabama, and one each from Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia 
and Georgia. The last, Troup, came most unwillingly. This being 
disposed of, Clay now, against the protest of Calhoun, amended 
his tariff bill by a provision that in the valuation of imported 
articles, "the valuation should be at the port in which the goods 
are first imported." Calhoun argued that this would be a great 
injustice to the South, as the price of goods being cheaper in the 
Northern than in the Southern cities, a home valuation would give 
the former a preference; and it was indeed a vital principle, as the 
next four years demonstrated. Dallas of Pennsylvania, Silsbee 
and Webster of Massachusetts, Hill of New Hampshire, Kane 
and Benton of Missouri, all supported him; but he finally aban- 
doned his objection for fear that his success might wreck his com- 
promise with Clay. Then came constitutional objections, and Clay, 

* "Abridgment of the Debates of Congress," Vol. 12, pp. 111-119. 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1833 351 

who had declared that "he flattered himself that the passage of 
this bill would again bring the citizens of the various sections of 
the country together like a band of brothers," tauntingly inquired 
of Webster, "Would the Senator from Massachusetts send his 
bill forth alone without this measure of conciliation?" To which 
Webster had replied, that "it (the force bill) was no more his bill 
than it was that gentleman's. The Senator from Kentucky had ex- 
pressed himself to be as much in favor of that bill as he had himself." 

The passage of the revenue collection bill was later regarded by 
Calhoun as an indication that "the spirit of liberty" was "dead in 
the North, and he then said of it: "It is of the very genius of a 
consolidated government to elevate one portion of the community 
while it corrupts the other. That form of government is now 
established by law under the bloody act, and unless there should 
be a complete reaction, a reaction which shall repeal that atro- 
cious act and completely reform the government, we must expect 
and prepare to sink under corruption and despotism. . . ." 

The measure of conciliation which was to bring the country 
together like a band of brothers was also at the time most wittily 
hit off by Wilde of Georgia, in the House : — 

" Oh, bel age quand Thorame dit a I'homme 
Soyons freres: ou je t'assomme," 

which he freely translated : — 

" Oh, blessed age when loving senators vote: 
Let us be brothers, or I'll cut your throat." * 

And attention at the time was directed to the man in the main 
responsible, by the pertinent inquiry of the Telegraph, "Why were 
the overtures tendered by Mr, Tazewell and urged by General 
Hayne so eloquently last year rejected then and accepted now ? " ^ 
There was but one answer ; Clay had in the meanwhile been over- 

* Charleston Mercury, Apr. 17, 1833. * Ihid., March 16, 1833. 



352 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

whelmingly beaten for the Presidency, even Pennsylvania giving 
her vote to Jackson. 

Yet in spite of this, so strong was the combination of Clay and 
Calhoun in Congress that no difficulty was found in substituting 
Clay's bill for that of Verplank, and passing it by a vote of 103 to 
71 over the stern and ominous protest of John Quincy Adams. 
In less than a week after the adjournment of Congress and the pas- 
sage of the two bills into acts, the nullification convention came 
together, and Governor Hayne succeeded Hamilton as president. 
Commissioner Leigh was received by the convention, standing and 
uncovered, and a committee of twenty-one members appointed to 
take into consideration the communication of the Honorable Ben- 
jamin W. Leigh, Commissioner from the State of Virginia. By a 
resolution, the convention requested of the delegation of senators 
and representatives an account relative to the late proceedings, and 
in the most formal manner a committee waited upon them to con- 
vey to them this request of the State, on her sovereignty, which was 
equivalent to a command. To which the delegation returned the 
astounding reply, as it appears in the report of this committee to 
the convention, viz., "that the gentlemen lately composing our 
delegation in Congress, now in Columbia, deem it unnecessary, 
as a body, to give any exposition of the acts of Congress referred 
to, but that the views of those who are members of the convention 
on the subject will be submitted to the convention." ^ This was 
the most extraordinary act in the nullification proceeding. There 
was absolutely no reason, compatible with any idea of fairness, 
that the responsibility of all, and especially of Calhoun, should be 
shunted off upon the shoulders of Senator Miller and Representa- 
tive Barnwell, simply because they happened to be members of 
the convention, as well as representatives of the State in Congress ; 
and the fact that they acquitted themselves extremely well, in the 

' Nullification Pamphlets, Vol. 2, p. no. So. Ca. Hist. Society. 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1833 353 

execution of the task, does not excuse the others. It is impossible 
to avoid the impression that this extraordinary reply to the State 

I ''on her sovereignty" was given to spare the feelings of Calhoun; 
for while Representative Barnwell gave the convention sound and 

f statesmanlike advice, he did not hide from the convention the fact 
that the State had not secured her exact demand, and was not 
bound to accept the solution; still, he thought the adjustment 
satisfactory. R. Barnwell Smith, rising more and more into promi- 
nence, did not oppose the settlement, but declared openly and 
unreservedly that it was no triumph. The convention, however, 
very wisely rescinded the "ordinance to nullify certain acts pur- 
porting to be laws laying duties on the importation of foreign 
commodities," on the ground that Congress by an Act recently 
passed had provided for such a reduction and modification of the 
duties as would ultimately reduce them to the revenue standard, 
and no more revenue should be raised than what should be neces- 
sary to economically defray the expenses of the government, and, 
after nullifying the Act to provide for the collection of duties on 
imports, dissolved March 18, 1833.^ 

Four nights later, the Governor was toasted at the celebration 
of St. Patrick's Day as follows : "His Excellency Governor Hayne : 
With firmness and prudence, seldom surpassed, he has guided his 
bark of state through a stormy night, and only now can feel the 
pleasure of success in his perilous voyage." ^ This was the opin- 
ion of his supporters; but Judge O'Neall, who was in opposition, 
confirms it in words as strong : " He entered upon the duties of his 
office in a most critical moment of time. One false step would 
have involved the State in the horrors of a domestic civil war; 
for a large portion of her citizens were in open and avowed hostility 
to her measures." ^ 

1 Ibid. ^ Charleston Mercury, March 22, 1833. 

' O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 15. 

2A 



354 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Hayne himself narrated to Bishop Elliott one instance where 
he did not fail to take the false step from any lack of urging. 
That was on the occasion of a rumor that the Unionists in Charleston 
proposed to board in the night a vessel bringing arms for the State, 
when many of his friends besought the Governor to order out a 
volunteer company, to which appeal, with that strong common 
sense and sound judgment which fitted him so eminently for 
leadership, Hayne positively refused to accede, declaring that it 
would be the very step to precipitate bloodshed. "In the present 
state of excitement," he asserted, "nothing could prevent a 
bloody collision between armed parties meeting at night in the 
streets. No, gentlemen, I am determined that if in this contro- 
versy blood must be shed, the first drop must be shed by our 
opponents." ^ 

To Hayne, therefore, the settlement was most satisfactory, for 
he certainly had performed his task to the satisfaction of himself, 
his supporters and his opponents ; but to Calhoun, while the world 
esteemed it a great victory achieved by him, there were ingredients 
most distasteful. Brooding over his theory of government, it 
had become to him something more than that which it undoubt- 
edly was when first launched by him. As late as June i6, 183 1, 
he was prepared to accept calmly, and without complaint, the 
determination of his friends that they could not "prudently 
maintain the position he was then about to assume " ; but 
in his letter to Van Deventer of March 24, 1833, his confi- 
dence in "a peaceable and glorious triumph for our cause and the 
State" has been rudely shaken, and he writes from Fort Hill at the 
conclusion of it all : " Your letters, as well as all that I see and hear, 
satisfies me that the spirit of liberty is dead in the North ; and but 
confirms the truth of the principles for which I have contended 
under so many difficulties. It is of the very genius of a consolidated 

» O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 31. 



f 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1833 355 

Government to elevate one portion of a community, while it cor- 
rupts the other. That form of Government is now established by 
law under the bloody act, and unless there should be a complete 
reaction, a reaction which shall repeal that atrocious act and com- 
pletely reform the Government, we must expect and prepare to 
sink under corruption and despotism. . . . The oppressed States 
must act on the principle systematically, that no unconstitutional 
act shall be enforced within their respective limits. There is no 
other remedy. We have commenced the system, and as it re- 
gards the tariff the most difficult of all acts to resist, with en- 
couraging success. I have no doubt the system has got its death 
wound. Nullification has dealt the fatal blow. We have applied 
the same remedy to the bloody act. It will never be enforced in 
this State. Other States may live under its reign, but Carolina is 
resolved to live only under that of the Constitution. There shall 
be at least one free State." ^ 

* "Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 323-324. 



CHAPTER VI 

CHARLESTON, AS SHE APPEARED IN THE LIGHT OF THE NULLIFICA- 
TION BALL AND THE HAMBURG RAILROAD IN 1 833. POLITI- 
CAL COMMENT NORTH 

It may be well doubted whether anything was gained by the 
passage of the Force bill, for it excited irritation without inculcat- 
ing respect. That it was an empty threat was evinced by the fail- 
ure of the general government to notice South Carolina's prompt 
nullification of it. The practical victory in the contest lay with 
South Carolina, and all that the Force bill effected was to teach 
the South that secession was wiser than nullification. The disrup- 
tive force of the incident was noticed by all observers, and has been 
commented upon by all, from Tocqueville to the "Cambridge 
History," as a menace to the Union. It was the beginning of the 
struggle which only ended in 1865. Before the incident, even with 
the rank injustice of the tariff, there was a powerful Union senti- 
ment in the State, strong enough to make threatening head against 
the test oath, on principle, after the members felt themselves de- 
serted by the general government; but when, through the tact- 
fulness of Hayne, this was finally adjusted, there was practically 
but one party in the State until Calhoun's death, and in that but 
one man who could, with any pronounced success, oppose his 
views on matters affecting the State at large and the people as a 
whole. There were sporadic revolts; but, in the main, as went 
Calhoun, so went South Carolina. If nullification be considered 
as the first step towards secession, then he who first broke down the 
belief in the irrevocable perpetuity of the Union was in the greatest 

356 



« 



THE NULLIFICATION BALL 357 

degree responsible, and Josiah Quincy was that individual. His 
frank declaration, in Congress, that the sole bond of the Union 
was interest, which could be broken by secession, shocked 
some of his hearers, whose patriotism was less utilitarian; 
but it evidently was the basis of the American system with which 
Clay solidified the North and West in behalf of the Union; while 
the South was estranged by the exploitation of her resources for the 
whole, making her, as Hayne put it, a kind of India. Clay was 
more responsible for nullification than any other individual except 
Quincy; and if Calhoun came next, Jackson and Senator Smith 
shared with him the responsibility to a great degree. In the cases 
of the four last named, personal influences undoubtedly affected 
the course of each at certain critical periods. With the Presidency 
before him. Clay was deaf in 1832 to every appeal of justice or of 
reason. Before his animosity had been kindled against Calhoun, 
Jackson was not averse to the threat of nullification, or even its 
exercise, to secure justice, as he saw it. To Senator Smith, 
policies which might elevate to power Crawford, appeared in a 
different light when utilized by Calhoun. And nullification was 
not deemed by Calhoun of such vital importance in 183 1, that it 
might not, with advantage, be postponed "for Mr. Crawford's 
movement on me." NuUification, however, had been put forth more 
imposingly in South Carolina than in any other State, and, apart 
from the leaders, it is of interest to consider the effect on the people 
of the State. This in a measure it is possible to clearly note, from 
the account of a not unfriendly Yankee, whose description was 
apparently correct enough for the Mercury to publish it without 
comment. Under date of March 23, 1833, this gentleman from 
Maine sends his home paper, the Portland Advertiser, an account 
of the Ball with which the settlement was celebrated. 

" The Nullifiers are doing things in grand style. This Charleston 
is no laggard in working off a fete. The Nullifiers are men of 



358 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



taste, men of little guns and big guns, swords and cutlasses, great 
spunk and fine speeches, pretty ladies and pretty dances. Who 
would not be a Nullifier and live in such a land, feed on such chiv- 
alry and enjoy such a ball ? . . . As a Yankee under good aus- 
pices I went last evening into the Citadel, the heart of the Nullifiers' 
camp, and among big-mouthed cannon, muskets, fusees, pistols, 
long swords and short swords, king's arms, rifles and fowling 
pieces, spears, pikes and bayonets bristling for horrid war, I found 
— think what? Not less than 1200 ladies. What a place to put 
ladies in, good-hearted creatures, if they are like our Northern 
belles and fair ones. . . . Well, I went to the ball at 8 o'clock or a 
little before. It was in the Citadel, which is the armory of the 
State, where are deposited Carolina's munitions of war, with which 
she was going to whip her twenty-three sovereign sisters, with men 
enough to eat her up, slaves and all, if they gave the Kentuckians 
but the quantum of an eye and ear apiece. The Citadel is an 
oblong building, perhaps two hundred feet in length, and with an 
open area in the centre, perhaps sixty feet in width. This area was 
floored over for the occasion, a canopy overhanging, and thus a 
grand Magnificent Hall was prepared. The armories answered for 
drawing rooms. . . . We hung our hats on bayonets. Their 
muzzles answered for candelabras. . . . Around the outside door 
was a vast multitude of white people, black people and yellow people, 
with not a few nondescripts. Pillars and arches of lights of almost 
all colors formed by variegated glasses, in which were the lamps, 
immense in numbers, were thrown around the door. ... ' Nulli- 
fication is the rightful remedy,' quoted from Jefferson in large 
capitals, glared the spectator in the face. Rockets and bombs 
were let off in all directions. . . . From half-past seven until 
nine, carriages in line were discharging men in epaulettes, plumes, 
palmetto buttons, green coats, gray coats, red coats and black coats, 
white breeches, yellow breeches and black breeches. All the sol- 



THE NULLIFICATION BALL 359 

diery, the volunteers of the Empire, came in the uniform of their 
corps. And carriages were discharging ladies also, two at least to 
each gentleman. Ladies in white, in black, in scarlet, in blue; 
ladies in hats and feathers of all fashions. ... No two ladies 
looked alike. . . . Now let us go into the Hall. A more magnifi- 
cent picture was to be seen. We ascended a flight of stone stairs, 
walked along an ornamented piazza or corridor interwoven with 
imitation flags of cambric muslin of red and white and sprigs of 
cedar, live oak and palmetto leaves. Ranges of card-tables were 
spread in the gentlemen's drawing rooms. Rivers of wine were near. 
Refreshments of ices, lemonade, etc. One's head and hair ad- 
justed and hat disposed of, he was ushered along the gallery, so as 
to view the company below, who, now the Governor had entered in 
uniform and epaulettes, and General Hamilton also, in all the pomp 
of the camp, with their respective suites, prepared to dance. Cotil- 
lions were formed in the crowd, with exceeding difficulty ; but when 
they were formed, the black band, who were planted somewhere qn 
high, began to sound with horn and clarinet and drum and cymbal, 
and I know not what other instrument, but that they made a deaf- 
ening noise. I took this opportunity to go below, to run among 
the groups, to see the cannons, etc. . . . Under the staging for 
the band were long iron pieces of ordnance with their mouths 
turned to the company. Back of them were five ranges of supper 
tables. . . . Between the columns were medallions with emblem- 
atic devices on which were compliments to distinguished Nullifiers 
in South Carolina. Calhoun had one and was called 'the great, 
luminary.' McDuffie had one and was said to have the eloquence 
of Henry and heart of Hampden. Hayne had one, with an extract 
from one of his speeches. Hamilton had one, with I have for- 
gotten what. W. R. Davis and Barnwell had only one, which was 
not fair, for why should they not have had one apiece ? Pinckney 
had one. Sumter had one and was called ' an old cock, whose last 



360 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

crow was for liberty.' Turnbull had one, which called him Brutus. 
. . . Enjoying all this, and thus in the heart of the Nullifiers' 
camp, I ran around some gentlemen and ladies with that perfect 
independence in which obscurity always clothes one. I knew but 
few, and could not find that few very often in the multitude. Here 
was a bevy of ladies discussing the merits of Yankees and Yankee 
women. There is a platoon sweeping over and demolishing a 
half-formed cotillion. Here is the Governor of the State in cap 
and plume and epaulettes, with his amiable lady, wearing the cock- 
ade of Carolina. There ex-Governor Hamilton, Emperor of the 
South, far less humble than Napoleon, when only trampling on 
the thrones of Europe. . . . Here was a cluster of Generals, 
Colonels and Captains, epauletted to the ears, with swords dangling 
between their feet, with spurs sticking into their heels. There a 
body of men vaunting the prowess of Carolina. Carolina ! Car- 
olina ! Who will not stand for Carolina ? . . . The Haynes, 
the Hamiltons, the Sumters, the Pinckneys, the Calhouns, the 
McDuffies, the Millers, the Turnbulls of Carolina. Huzza for 
Carolina ! . . . Talk of nullification dying out, it is nonsense, 
when you work upon the passions and the feelings of people with 
such shows. Every man and child there will live and die a Nulli- 
fier. I was half a mind to become one myself. . . . Splendid, 
mad people, if this meets your eye, this letter from not an ill- 
natured spy in your camp, pray take his advice and get sober again. 
Leave off drinking these intoxicating draughts of Carolina chivalry. 
. . . Ladies, don't hate the Yankees, the d — n Yankees, as some 
of your beaux term them. Upon my word, we are not all tin 
pedlers, not all hucksters, wooden nutmeg, wooden ham sellers, 
though we live in such a cold, rocky land, we must depend in part 
on our wits. Some of us are honest and won't cheat you. . . . 
Come dowTi among us, and you will find we are not icicles or fog- 
banks. . . . We like you better than you like us, and speak better 



THE NULLIFICATION BALL 361 

of you, though you have two faults to our one. . . . We go for 
the Union, because duty, patriotism and common glory look that 
way, not because we are more interested in it than you. . . . 
Hoist up the star-spangled banner in your citadel. . . . Let us 
be all Americans, all Carolinians, all Yankees." ^ 

While this is not an ill-natured picture of existing conditions and 
temperament; while South Carolina had unquestionably devoted 
too much of her capital to the planting of cotton and purchase of 
slaves and was not in as healthy a condition as she had been ten or 
fifteen years prior, the State of which it could be said, as the Mer- 
cury truthfully declared, "the locomotive travels over a greater 
extent of line of railroad in consecutive miles than is or now can 
be done in any part of the world," ^ could not be disposed of with 
a jest. The report of her railroad commissioner showed books 
opened for that great enterprise March 17, 1828. By May of same 
[ year experimental line of five miles started, August 19, 1830, 
capital increased to $518,340,^ and company authorized to build 
from Charleston to Hamburg, a distance of 136 miles. November 
7, 1832, the eastern division open for travel 60 miles, and on date 
of report. May i, 1833, 76 miles. It was also reported that lack 
of intelligent white labor was impeding the work. The nuUifier, 
Elias Horry, who was pressing on this, for the time, mighty work, 
took care that his Unionist predecessor, Aiken, should not lose 
credit for his services. The total expenses of the work to date 
amounted to $831,266. For surveys $35,959-35 had been paid out 
and $579,838.58 expended in road construction, independent of 
track laying, which had cost in iron and spikes $119,912.66. For 
equipment, cars, axles and three locomotives, together with ex- 
pense of work-shops, there had come an outlay of $52,354.91; 
while the contingent expenses for office and salaries reached 

* From Portland Advertiser, reproduced in Mercury, April 27, 1833. 
' Charleston Mercury, May 7, 1833. ' Ibid., May 8, 1833. 



V 



362 ROBERT Y. HAYNE || 

V*' 'I 

$24,216.72, and the balance incurred for real estate and negroes 
purchased and interest on notes. To supply this, about $221,540 
had been borrowed on the stock and from the State, which with 
the income from operation and some slight gain in the disposition 
of real estate made up, with stock subscribed for, the total re- 
ceipts.^ 

Van Buren's paper, the Washington Globe, did not hesitate to 
assert, however, that "the construction of the Charleston Railroad 
was a part of the disunion plan of nullification to make Charleston 
a free port, connect with the contemplated roads in Tennessee, 
rob the Mississippi of half the rich freight carried to market, 
blotting out the river, while the Old Dominion was to be thrown 
like a stranded whale upon the frontier." ^ 

This affords us striking evidence of the breadth and liberality 
of the statesmanship in some quarters opposed to nullification, 
and to some degree responsible for it. By the press of Charleston, 
the comment was dismissed with the contemptuous inquiry, why, 
in such case, the Union men of South Carolina could have the 
effrontery to hold shares in the enterprise and buy them at a pre- 
mium ? But there was comment from other sources at the North, 
and some of it most enlightening as indicative of the fact that 
history has been twisted in the writing to suit subsequent conditions. 
The same paper whose correspondent wrote the amusing account 
of the Nullification Ball in Charleston, the Portland (Maine) Ad- 
vertiser, comments thus on the political situation: "Democracy 
published Mr. Hayne's nullification speech on satin, Federalism 
laughed at the act and now Democracy blushes. Democracy 
clapped Governor Hayne, Mr. Calhoun, Governor Hamilton and 
Mr. McDufiie upon the shoulder. Federalism said they were all 
mad, and now Democracy says so too. . . . You gave us Jackson 
and lauded him for his Democracy. . . . Yankee tact, Yankee 

^ Charleston Mercury, June 21, 1833. * Ibid., June 19, 1833. 



THE NULLIFICATION BALL 363 

skill, Yankee ingenuity, turned all things, even the worst, to ad- 
vantage. . . . The President has come over to us." ^ 

This was in great part true. Jackson and Jackson's party, North 
and South, were in accord with Hayne in 1830; for if he had com- 
menced to suspect Calhoun of unfriendliness as early as the time 
of the Great Debate, on account of Crawford's hints, the tempo- 
rizing Van Buren was at that time his main support ; but when, in 
place of him, the President leant upon Livingston, he possessed an 
adviser of the caliber of Calhoun himself, and Livingston's views 
commenced to make themselves felt. < 

' Ibid., July 24, 1833. 



Il 



t 

I: 



CHAPTER VII 

hayne's character as evinced by his declarations, his 
temperament as contrasted with that of calhoun, 
the contemplated route of the railroad to the west 

IN 1833 

In the deplorable dearth of private correspondence obtainable, 
the character of Hayne can only be brought out as it found illus- 
tration in the incidents of his time and how he was affected by them, 
and how others, who shared with him the responsibilities of a 
portion of the time were, on their part, moved. The reasons given 
by the Governor, in the fall of this year, why he refused to com- 
mute a sentence, passed upon a negro prisoner, helps to give an 
impression of Hayne's character. "The sentence in this case," 
he says, "having been laid before me, by the Court, and having 
carefully examined the same, together with a report of the testimony 
given at the trial, I am constrained, by a sense of public duty, to 
declare that I can find no sufficient ground for Executive interpo- 
sition. The prisoner has been fairly tried and found guilty of the 
crime of administering poison to a large family of women and 
children. . . . Against a crime so diabolical in its character, so 
easily consummated and so difficult of detection, the law has lev- 
elled its heaviest denunciation. . . . Nor does the circumstance, 
that the offence in this case was committed against persons of the 
prisoner's own color, and that, though brought to the verge of the 
grave, they have, by the mercy of Providence, been restored to 
health, affect his moral or legal guilt." Then taking up the effect 
of a commutation and stating that it is that and not a pardon which 

364 



m 



HAYNE'S CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT 365 

is recommended, he looks into the grounds and considers the eflFect. 
Showing that while circumstantial, the evidence was most con- 
clusive, he is of the opinion that, while banishment might free 
the State, it would be sending to sister States a dangerous indi- 
vidual, and, as the Code of South Carolina does not recognize im- 
prisonment for life, a commutation would produce an imprison- 
ment totally inadequate, therefore the law must take its course/ 

In the fall of this year, Elias Horry, in his address on the com- 
pletion of the railroad to Augusta, gave a most interesting statement 
of its history and future policy, stating that the superintendent 
had attended the convention at Eastville, Virginia, near the North 
Carolina boundary, which had been held to obtain information 
to strike out a new and useful route, not only for the trade of that 
section, but to connect the trade of the Ohio River with the great 
valley of the Tennessee and with the Southern States; that the 
convention at Asheville, North Carolina, had determined upon a 
survey from that point to Columbia; that the Western Railroad 
building from Knoxville, Tennessee, would enter South Carolina 
through Spartanburg district, with its point of destination, Colum- 
bia, thence to connect with the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad;^ 
and that in response to applications from the inhabitants of Barn- 
well, Edgefield, Orangeburg, Columbia and Greenville, a reply had 
been made to Columbia that if the people of that town would 
build to connect with the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad, the 
latter would, in all probability, take the branch off their hands at a 
premium.^ All these facts and views indicated that the line of 
road would be, as it most naturally might be surmised it would, to 
the capital, through the centre of the State, by the shortest line 
to the growing West. But almost contemporaneously with the ac- 
count of this industrial march came the ill-starred editorial decla- 

^ Charleston Mercury, Sept. 12, 1833. 'Ibid., Oct. 22, 1833. 

' Ibid., Nov. 16, 1833. 



^66 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

ration, "The institution of slavery is not an evil, but a benefit." * 
Admitting that in the past the South had entertained a view to the 
contrary, the organ of nullification declared, that even in Virginia 
and North Carolina, whence it was well aware of such "formerly, 
the great mass of the South now sanction no such admission, that 
Southern slavery is an evil to be deprecated." The statement, 
therefore, that "this new doctrine was first set forth by Calhoun 
in the Senate in 1836," ^ is slightly misleading. It was in all 
probability as strongly his belief in this year, 1833, as it certainly 
was in 1836; but he does not seem to have been first in the expres- 
sion of it. Nullification had, however, in the opinion of not a 
few, afforded a demonstration concerning the strength, from a 
military standpoint, of a slave State of considerable value. It 
also gave to Calhoun immense power in the State of South Carolina. 
So much so, that it remains a question whether the cultivated 
WUde of Georgia, the friend of Carolina and the enthusiastic 
admirer of Lowndes, that brilliant Irishman whose style of speak- 
ing recalled to English hearers Lord Lyndhearst, might not have 
had Calhoun in his mind when, about this time, somewhat to the 
objection of the Mercury, he quoted : — 

" It is the abject property of most 
That being parcel of the common mass 

Conscious of impotence, they soon grow drunk 
With gazing, when they see an able man 
Step forth to notice; and besotted thus 
Build him a pedestal and say, stand there 
And be our admiration and our praise."^ 

Certain it is that the elaborate ceremonies, in honor of the dead 
Turnbull, were converted into a much greater glorification of 

* Charleston Mercury, Nov. 13, 1833. 

' Elson, "History of the United States," Vol. 3, p. 145. 

' Charleston Mercury, Oct. 18, 1833. 



HAYNE'S CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT 367 

Calhoun; for even on the printed programme of the order of 
exercises, while the names of Turnbull, to be honored, and Ham- 
ilton, who was to deliver the oration in his honor, stand out, not 
inappropriately in much bolder type than that which designates 
the Governor's position in the ceremony, yet they all remain small 
in comparison with the letters marking the mere presence of Cal- 
houn. That night at the Circus, Calhoun was given a reception, 
and delivered his first public utterance concerning nullification 
and the questions connected with it since the adjournment of 
Congress, some nine months previous. He was no longer fresh 
from the struggle and smarting from the debate; he had had 
ample time to weigh what he should say concerning these matters, 
and his declarations are most important. With regard to nulli- 
fication, he is reported as saying, in substance : " On the passage 
of the Act of 1828, the alternative was fairly presented to the 
Southern States of submission to the unlimited exactions of the 
Government, or of calling into action the higher principles of the 
Constitution. That thus one of the most momentous questions 
which could rise imder the system was presented, whether 
the States had any remedy to protect their rights when it was 
acknowledged they were encroached on by the General Govern- 
ment? ... In the consideration of this question, there were 
many important points in which the whole South, with some in- 
considerable exceptions, were united ; that the States had certain 
reserved rights; that all Acts of Congress infringing them were 
null and void, and that the Act in question was one of that descrip- 
tion. . . . Yet when the State took her stand upon the right of 
interposition, she found herself not only abandoned by every 
Southern ally, but divided and distracted by a powerful party 
within, who opposed her much more violently than they had re- 
sisted the burden under which they were suffering." With regard 
to the Force Bill, he announced that " if all other effectual resist- 



368 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



1 



ance should fail, it would be their duty to take measures to concen- 
trate the voice of the South, which should plainly announce to their 
Northern brethren that either the Bill or the political connection 
must yield." ^ How South Carolina could concentrate the voice of 
the South on a bill she had solemnly declared did not exist, Calhoun 
did not make clear, and when it is remembered that the Unionist 
congressman, Blair, had openly advocated secession if the tariff 
were not modified, the intolerance of Calhoun was most marked. 
He spoke not as the senator of the State ; but as the chief of a trium- 
phant faction. At the conclusion of Calhoun's speech there were 
calls for Hayne, and, in response, the Governor excused himself for 
his long absence from meetings of the party, on account of the 
position in which he stood as Executive of the State, a position 
which did not, as he thought, admit of his mingling as he had been 
wont to do in the public meetings of his political friends. On 
this occasion he declared, however, he could not deny himself the 
gratification of accompanying "our distinguished guest." Inci- 
dentally, the Governor mentioned the preparedness of the State 
in the recent controversy and the economical manner of its pro- 
vision. It was in this connection that he used the expression, 
"myrmidons of Uncle Sam," for which the Unionist press took 
him to task in the following : " Our estimate of General Hayne 
induced us to believe he was above indulging in such undignified 
slang," reflecting, "on men as high minded as himself."^ Al- 
though pleasantly put, the rebuke was just. 

Only a few days after this meeting the Legislature convened, 
and the Governor's Message was laid before that body. It is an 
interesting paper, and nothing is calculated to more clearly illus- 
trate the difference in temperament of Calhoun and Hayne than 
their allusions to the same subjects, about the same time, viz., the 
reception of nullification at home and abroad. The tone of bit- 

^ Charleston Mercury, Nov. 25, 1833. * Charleston Courier, Nov. 26, 1833. 



HAYNE'S CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT 369 

terness in Calhoun's utterance, so marked as to be unjust, to "the 
powerful party within" and allies without, is entirely absent in the 
almost identical statement by Hayne, " Unhappily divided at home 
and cheered by no friendly voice from abroad," with which the 
latter described the situation. "Yet," he continues, "twenty 
thousand volunteers were organized in a few weeks, arsenals and 
military depots were established. . . . The happy effect of these 
defensive measures was immediately perceived, in the liberal 
offers of assistance, which poured in upon us from every quarter 
of the Union, in the altered tone of our oppressors and in the 
growing confidence of the friends of State Rights and free trade 
everywhere. The manufacturers themselves began to perceive 
that, strong as their system was, it could not be sustained in public 
opinion by violence and bloodshed." ^ In reference to the Com- 
promise Act, the Message contains a statement of historical im- 
portance, on account of the position which Hayne had occupied 
the year previous, namely, the recognized leader of the opposition 
in the Senate. Of the act he says: "Though the measure did 
not yield all that the South had an unquestioned right to demand 
... an opportunity was offered for adjustment, which consistent 
with the principle on which we had all along acted, we were not at 
liberty to reject. Such a modification of the tariff in 1832 would 
have unquestionably prevented the adoption of our ordinance of 
nullification." With regard to the Force Bill, he contented him- 
self with the declaration, "It is greatly to be lamented that the 
act should have been followed by the Force Bill." Then taking 
up a matter to which he had forcibly alluded six years prior, in 
his great speech in the Senate, on the Colonization Bill, he ob- 
serves, "It is a popular delusion, that slave-holding States are 
comparatively weak, and the idea has sometimes been indulged 
that we owe a large debt of gratitude to our Northern brethren, 

' Charleston Mercury, Nov. 29, 1833. 



2B 



370 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



for the protection they have afforded us." But this he disputes 
by showing how recent events had indicated the State's ability 
to put " 20,000 men in the field, without any material diminution 
of her agricultural production." And, "Though the enemies of 
our institution (deeming the occasion favorable to their scheme) 
were busily employed in circulating incendiary publications among 
us (several of which fell into my hand), yet not a whisper of discon- 
tent was heard in the land and never did our people feel themselves 
so entirely secure from all insurrectionary movements." Com- 
menting on this and other aspects of the case, to wit, the proverbial 
jealousy of freemen in slave-holding States with regard to their 
own rights and their disposition to make sacrifices for such, he 
remarks: "I think we may very safely conclude that the existence 
of slavery in the South is not to be regarded as ' an evil only to be 
deplored' ; but that it brings along with it corresponding advan- 
tages in elevating the character, contributing to the wealth, en- 
larging the resources and adding to the strength of the States in 
which it exists and, in our own country in particular, in eminently 
contributing to the prosperity and welfare of the Union; while 
at the same time we have the consolation to know that our labor- 
ing population are in a condition greatly superior to that which 
they have ever occupied in their own country or are perhaps 
destined to assume for ages to come, in any quarter of the 
globe." 

Whether we agree with Hayne or not, considering his time, his 
situation and his environment, this is well said. But even to this 
he imparts additional interest in the declaration, "These remarks 
are made in no boastful or invidious spirit; but to correct the im- 
pression of dependence and to assert the existence of 'no bond' 
between the Southern States and their Northern brethren but the 
Constitution, no ties but mutual support and common interest, 
the glorious recollections of the past and the proud anticipations 



HAYNE'S CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT 371 

of the future — ties the force of which they have ever been ready 
to acknowledge and will be the last, voluntarily, to sever." 

The contrast between this and Calhoun's declaration that 
"either the Bill (Force Bill) or the political connection must yield," 
marks most acutely the difference between the tempers and methods 
of the two men. This first Message of Hayne was, in the main, 
devoted to matters political; but he finds time for other consider- 
ations, and in some of his recommendations the character of the 
man shines out clearly. "In examining our criminal code," he 
says, "it has struck me that it is susceptible of improvement. 
Though the rigor of the English common law has been greatly 
ameliorated amongst us, yet something still remains to be done 
to bring it into harmony with the liberal spirit of the age. Some 
barbarous punishments, and especially that of branding, still dis- 
grace our statute books. Our laws for the government, treatment 
and punishment of slaves and other persons of color also require 
revision. In relation to slaves, my own experience and observa- 
tion have thoroughly convinced me that some reform is impera- 
tively called for. While rigid discipline should be enforced, the 
law ought, at the same time, to afford complete protection against 
injustice." * That he doubted whether they always received jus- 
tice, is evidenced by the further statement, " The courts before 
which slaves must now be tried for crimes of every description 
are liable to be so arranged as to deprive them of an impartial 
trial." To remedy this, he recommends that the freeholders to 
try same be drawn, as juries are drawn, and the Attorney- General 
of the State charged with the conduct of all capital cases. Taking 
up the subject of internal improvement, in the light of the work 
accomplished by the railroad, he is of the opinion that private 
is more efiicacious than public effort, and among various other 
suggestions, unnecessary to enumerate, occur two, one bearing 

* Charleston Mercury, Nov. 29, 1833. 



372 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



on the suggested test oath and the other concerning an amendment 
of the Constitution of the State in reference to nullification, with 
regard to which the organ of the Unionists observes, "On the 
matter of the Test Oath, the Governor is disposed to conciliate, 
and if this very unnecessary measure be prescribed in a manner 
wholly free from a spirit of proscription, there can be no great 
occasion for complaint." * Conceding praise to the spirit of 
humanity pervading the suggestions of the same official as to the 
criminal code, that paper dismisses the argument concerning 
nullification with the trenchant criticism that if the State possess 
the sovereignty under discussion, no amendment to the Constitu- 
tion is necessary ; if not, no amendment can give it. 

* Charleston Courier, Nov. 29, 1833. 



A 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE SPIRIT OF INTOLERANCE CROPPING OUT. THE PROGRESS OF 
THE RAILROAD. THE TEST OATH AND HAYNE'S TACTFUL IN- 
FLUENCE. NULLIFIERS AND UNIONISTS COME TOGETHER 

But if in the utterances of Hayne and some others there was 
moderation, there were not lacking those in whom nullification 
had produced an intolerance that might be considered somewhat 
extreme. The report of the subcommittee, presided over by 
F. W. Pickens, with regard to slavery, indicates how swiftly an 
overwhelming factional triumph generates this spirit, and it was 
well that the direction of afTairs were in hands less hasty to proscribe 
political opponents ; for the Unionists, although they deemed them- 
selves deserted by the general government, were in numbers, 
education, wealth and spirit too considerable to be harried, without 
some danger to the peace of the State, and this report breathed 
anything but peace : " We have a peculiar and local institution of 
our own, as a people, of great delicacy and momentous concern to 
the very vitals of society. . . . The law of State sovereignty is 
with us the law of State existence. If there be any citizen of South 
Carolina who, forgetting all the ties of nature and sympathy that 
bind a man to the home of his childhood and the graves of his 
fathers, should refuse or hesitate to swear allegiance to the mother 
that has cherished or protected him, he deserves to be an offcast 
and wanderer upon the earth, without a home and feeling for no 
country." ^ Shortly after this, Calhoun expresses himself as 

' Charleston Mercury, Dec. 14, 1833. 
373 



374 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



•J 



I 



"much gratified to hear that the session terminated as well as it 
did," ^ that anxiety was felt at the state of things in Columbia. 
What was the occasion of this allusion does not clearly appear. 
Senator Miller had resigned and been succeeded by W. C. Preston, 
according to the Mercury, without opposition; but in the report 
of the Courier, by a vote of loi to 25, scattering, the latter paper 
declaring that the Legislature was the mere mouthpiece of the Club, 
to which Calhoun and a few others dictated the line of action. 

The railroad was meanwhile occupying the attention of the 
public almost as much as political affairs. Early in February, 
1834, the locomotive " Edgefield " made the run from Charleston 
to Hamburg, 136 miles, in 7 hours and 20 minutes.^ Better still, 
the road was no longer an experiment, as the weekly receipts were 
in excess of the expenditures; ^ while two months later, from the 
shops at Charleston, was produced a locomotive very properly 
called "The Native." At this time the road possessed nine loco- 
motives, one named after the Charleston designer of the first 
locomotive built in America, "The E. L. Miller," the man to whom 
most credit must be given for the lead his native State had taken 
' in railroading in America. The two extremely efficient presidents 
I of the company, however, were not forgotten; and "The Aiken" 
and "The Horry" were both in evidence. But no locomotive was 
/ such an object of interest as "The Native," the first Charleston- 
/ I built engine, built by Messrs. Eason and Dotterer, on contract 
I at their own shops, from the plans of Mr. Dotterer. Of it the 
/ chief engineer, Horatio Allen (an expert engineer from the North), 
declared, "In the extreme simphcity of its arrangements, the 
directness with which the power is applied and the working parts 
operated, as well as the substantial character of the workmanship, 
it holds out the promise of being one of the most permanent 

» "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 327. * Courier, Feb. 17, 1834. 

^ Ibid., March 26, 1834. 



THE SPIRIT OF INTOLERANCE CROPPING OUT 375 

engines." ^ The report shows, at that time, fourteen passenger 
coaches and ninety freight cars, to be increased by July, twenty- 
four and one hundred and seventy respectively. And again, 
under the able direction of Elias Horry, a direct proposal is made 
to Abraham Blanding and others at Columbia, to construct a 
railroad from Columbia to Branchville, with regard to the opera- 
tion of which the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad holds out 
most advantageous terms. But the State was not yet alive to 
the importance of this means of transportation, and it needed a 
more quickening appeal to arouse her to the effort. It is interesting 
to note in confirmation of the view of Professor Smith, of the Uni- 
versity of North Carolina, that literary development follows in- 
dustrial progress; that "Guy Rivers," the first novel of William 
Gilmore Simms, was just about this time most favorably received 
by the Northern press,^ and 1500 of the first edition sold at the 
outset. In the fall of the year 1834, however, the industrial 
advancement of South Carolina was checked by the death of 
Elias Horry. In the summer of that year, matters political again 
were bubbling hotly. On June the 4th the Supreme Court of 
the State, with Judge Harper dissenting, declared the test oath un- 
constitutional. Partisan pressure was brought to bear upon Hayne 
to induce him to caU an extra session of the Legislature at once; 
but he refused to yield to the clamor,^ and in thus acting seems to 
have been in accord with Calhoun. The fall elections confirmed 
the grip the nuUifiers had secured the two years previous, leaving 
them still with the two-thirds in the Legislature; but the popular 
vote through the State revealed only 18,535 votes cast for their 
candidates to 14,870 ^ for their opponents. To this Legislature, 
Hayne sent his last Message. In it he took a gloomy view of Fed- 
eral affairs. "The Government," he declared, "is rapidly degen- 

' Ibid., May 5, 1834. * Ibid., July 14, 1834. 

^ Ibid., July 19, 1834. * Ibid., Nov. 6, 1834. 



376 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

crating into an irresponsible despotism. With the purse and the 
sword and the vast patronage of a consolidated government in 
his hands, the President will appoint his successor. Congress 
will be held in subjection by Executive patronage, which will be 
brought into hourly conflict with freedom of elections; and if, 
under such disastrous circumstances, any of the States shall be able 
to preserve their liberties, they may not be able to preserve the 
Union." Passing from this to a consideration of the decision 
with regard to the test oath, he alludes to it as having been 
"argued on both sides with an ability and learning which con- 
ferred the highest honor on all the parties concerned." He states 
that he had deemed it his duty to conform to the decision, and 
that he had been induced to refrain from calling an extra session, 
then loudly demanded, because of his opinion, that in the shape 
in which the oath would be presented in the constitutional amend- 
ment it would answer every purpose and yet be less objectionable. 
And with regard to this, he pressed the argument so vigorously 
as to excite the alarm of the Unionist organ, which warned its 
readers: "This document comes upon us in the form and with 
the language of great moderation ; but we greatly fear it is wanting 
in candor, and that deadly mischief lurks under its honeyed words. 
... It settles that the oath will be engrafted on the Constitution. 
. . . Whether that body, however, will adopt the Executive 
exposition, and whether that exposition, paltering as it does in a 
double sense, will prove satisfactory to the Union party, are ques- 
tions of doubtful and momentous issue." Continuing its comment 
in a less suspicious tone, the Courier observes: "We are fully 
disposed to give the Governor credit for moderation in another 
part of his Message. If we understand him aright, he implicitly 
recommends the Legislature to abstain from legislation on the subject 
of State treason, and perhaps also on the subject of the Judiciary." * 

' Courier, Nov. 28, 1834. 



THE SPIRIT OF INTOLERANCE CROPPING OUT 377 

In its last surmise, the Unionist organ was justified; while 
with regard to the suspicions first expressed, they were proven 
unworthy, for the spirit of conciliation which the Message breathed 
was imparted to the majority, and on December the 24th the 
entire minority signed a statement of their reasons for not further 
opposing the oath in the new form, inasmuch as the report in- 
troducing it "distinctly declared the allegiance declared is that 
allegiance which every citizen owes to the State consistently with 
the Constitution of the United States." ^ 

The bill to define State treason, and the one to alter the Judi- 
ciary having both been dropped, the bitterness and extreme ten- 
sion which had existed in the State for nearly four years, and which 
had reached its most acute stage when Hayne was called to the 
control of affairs in the State, he had thus been most instrumental 
in assuaging. Judge O'Neall, one of the leading Unionists in the 
State, declared that this settlement of the controversy was satis- 
factory to the entire Union party in South Carolina; ^ so that as 
a healer of factional strife, after twenty years' service, Hayne 
passed from public to private life. With all energy, eloquence 
and power, he had unavailingly pressed the appeal to reason; 
it had been unsuccessful. With moderation he had tempered, 
restrained and guided the successful appeal to force; but as no 
other man did or possibly could, he realized the responsibilities 
which it had involved, and the consequences and dangers which 
had followed close upon the heels of that success. Now, with prac- 
tical mind and patriotic spirit he prepared for the last appeal which 
could be made for the preservation of the Union, in his opinion, 
without a change of views, distinctly threatened, if not in the 
present, most surely in the future. 

In this year of 1835 were first distinctly heard the pre- 
monitory mutterings of that storm, which broke with such devas- 

' Ibid., Dec. 24, 1834. » O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 17. 



378 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

tating fury (in 1861), and, in the same year, oblivious of every 
other suggestion, with a devotion and patriotism never surpassed, 
Hayne flung himself into the effort to allay it, if possible. Owing 
his elevation, in some measure, to Calhoun, he had supported the 
plans and measures of the latter statesman with an unswerving 
loyalty, although it must have been apparent to him that his own 
judgment had, in some instances, proved the sounder of the two 
when it came in conflict with his leader's, warped by personal 
feeling. The vote upon the confirmation of Van Buren was an 
illustration ; for on this Hayne had mistakenly given way against 
his wiser view, in deference to the insistence of the elder statesman ; 
and, in place of being politically defunct, Van Buren was at this 
time recognized as the most formidable of all the Presidential 
candidates. Now that, as a private citizen, freed from the respon- 
sibility of pushing in conjunction with others particular policies 
to their consummation, Hayne looked at matters with greater in- 
dependence, the possibility of a difference between him and 
his great leader was not small. Yet this did not immediately 
develop; for Hayne's strength was essentially in his ability to 
conciliate, his voice, a persuasive one. 

With the exception of the destruction of St. Philip's Church 
by fire, entailing the loss of an interesting monument of colonial 
times, no event of particular interest to the community of Charles- 
ton or the State of South Carolina marked the earlier months of the 
year. Built in 1723, in point of architectural beauty, and from 
the tablets and inscriptions within of historical record, it was 
a loss. From the papers narrating the occurrence, it is gathered 
that the first church in the province was on the site where St. 
Michael's now stands, a frame building erected in 1681.^ 

So absolutely lacking at this time was all factional feeling that 
Hayne or Petigruwas the suggestion for Intendant, which the whilom 

* Courier, Feb. 20, 1835. 



THE SPIRIT OF INTOLERANCE CROPPING OUT 379 

Unionist Courier brings forth ; but by July the 30th all is tumult 
again; no longer Nullifiers against Unionists, but Nullifiers and 
Unionists against Abolitionists, and the former combination 
threatening interference with the operations of Federal govern- 
mental functions, as grave as ever nullification promised. 

The cause of the excitement was the discovery of a great num- 
il ber of incendiary documents, addressed to the colored population, 
sent by the Abolitionists of the North. These having been taken 
from the Charleston Post-office during the night-time, by some 
turbulent spirits who had forced an entrance and seized upon them, 
brought the citizens face to face with a serious situation. Some- 
thing had to be done at once, and, under the guise of preventing 
incendiary documents from being distributed, a committee was 

E appointed to guard same from the boat to the Post-office, the 
Postmaster undertaking to delay delivery, until he could hear from 
the Postmaster-General. In this effort to keep the turbulent and 
excitable elements of the city's population within bounds, Hayne, 
the private citizen, was at once called upon, and his leadership ac- 
l| cepted without question. As chairman of the committee appointed 
at the public meeting, presided over by the Intendant, he reports 
the arrangements ^ which the letters of Alfred Huger, Postmaster, 
give the details of. These details appearing in the letter of a strong 
Unionists are the more interesting as they indicate how deter- 
'f minedly the Union feeling was being stamped and burnt out of the 
devoted and fearless upholders of such sentiments in South Caro- 
lina by Northern fanatics caring nothing for it in their sentimen- 
tal frenzy. 

"July 30, 1835. 
**HoN. Amos Kendall: — 

" Sir : It gives me great pain to inform you that my apprehen- 
sions yesterday for the safety of the mail have proved to be not 

^ Ibid., Aug. 5, 1835. 



380 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

without foundation. The excitement to which I alluded was even 
greater than I imagined, and had evidently taken possession of 
men of all parties and of every grade of society. It appeared 
towards evening to have subsided, though I deemed it safest to 
remain and keep the office open until night, and leave it only when 
everything was quiet and the public mind at rest (apparently) on 
the subject. A little after midnight I was called up by the 
Captain of the City Guard, with the intelligence that the Post- 
office had been forcibly entered, which, upon examination, I 
found unfortunately to be true. I missed nothing but the bag, 
which contained the pamphlets already referred to. This seems 
to have been the object of those who committed the act, which, 
outrageous and fanatical as it is, has not been in my opinion per- 
petrated by any ignorant or infuriated rabble. . . . However 
deeply I lament the occurrence, I do not see how I could have pre- 
vented it. It is evident that the mail would have received the same 
violence had the obnoxious papers been transmitted; but I in- 
formed the leading men of both political parties I should assume 
the responsibility of keeping back the incendiary publications. 
All seemed satisfied, and yet this outrage has been committed. . . . 
My mind is made up to do my duty to the Department, but it is not 
to be denied that the whole community is against me, though the 
respectable portion, or a part of the respectable portion, join me 
in reprobating the extravagance that has been committed." ^ Fol- 
lowing this is another letter in which the Postmaster states that 
at '*a meeting of citizens of all political parties, a committee was 
appointed to insure the safety of the mail," on condition that he 
would agree not to issue the seditious pamphlets or the newspapers, 
under the titles of Emancipator and Human Rights, which arrange- 
ment he declares was indispensably necessary. 

The value of Hayne's leadership in thus arresting what might 

* Courier, Aug. 28, 1835. 



THE SPIRIT OF INTOLERANCE CROPPING OUT 381 

have easily grown into a grave breach between the general govern- 
ment and the State, is attested by a writer in O'Neall's " Bench and 
Bar," presumably Bishop Elliott, who states that at a meeting, pre- 
sumably the one alluded to by the Postmaster, an effort was made 
"under the auspices of John Lyde Wilson and other unquiet 
spirits" ^ to sanction the lawless invasion of the Post-office by a 
public vote; while it was declared that the progress of the mail must 
be arrested until it could be duly scrutinized by the State officials. 
The writer states that he attended the meeting, and describes the 
manner in which Hayne opposed and brought this to nothing. 
Finding, he declared, that in conversation on the floor he could 
not stop the growing excitement, but that rather the crowd was 
growing more turbulent, the ex-Governor mounted a bench, and, 
concentrating attention upon himself, with eye, voice and general 
mien, dominated the meeting and forced upon it the more reason- 
able course. As to the possible consequences, had he failed to 
control the meeting, the Postmaster, himself, writing to Charles 
Manigault, under date of October 15, 1835, gives us some idea: 
"I received Galignani and was quite amused with the account of 
the storming of the Post-office — it would have been a serious affair 
had the People attempted to carry out one of their plans, which 
was to take charge of the Post-office. My double Barrel was all 
ready and I should assuredly have pulled trigger — it all ended 
very well ; but the abolitionists will, I fear, go on, and the Union will 
be the sacrifice. I deeply regret this, for I am a confirmed Union 
man. I lived near enough to the Revolution to imbibe all the 
prejudices and weaknesses of Washington. I believe that liberty 
depends upon the success of our Constitution, and when it goes, 
God help us." ' 

' O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Vol. 2, p. 29. 

' Original letter of Alfred Huger to Charles Manigault, in possession of Miss 
Ellen H. Jervey, Charleston, South Carolina. 






I 



H 




-^ 




ROBERT Y. HAYNE, 

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, U.S. SENATOR. 

GOVERNOR OF SC.CA., FIRST MAYOR OF CKARLESTQN. 

HIS LAST PUBLIC SERVICE 

WAS HIS EFFORT TO OPEN DIRECT RAILROAD COMMUNICATION 

WITH THE VAST INTERIOR OF OUR CONTINENT. 

"NEXT TO IWC CHKiSTI/vM RELIGIC^I i KfiOW OF NOTHING 

TO BE COmPAHED WITH THE [HFLUtKCE OF A FREE, 
SOCIAL AND COrriKERaAL INTERCOURSE. IN SOFTENING 

ASPERITIES. REt-'.OYlNG FREJ'JDSCES, EXTENi31N0 
KNOWLEDGE AND PROiilOTIMG HUMAN HAPPINESS".' *kx»v 



V^ 



.Qt 



." •* 






0p 



"^ 



A 



VALENTINE'S BUST. 



BOOK IV 

THE APPEAL TO INTEREST 
CHAPTER I 

THE LOUISVILLE, CINCINNATI AND CHARLESTON RAILROAD. 
HAYNE's deep INTEREST IN IT AS A MEANS OF PRESERVING 
THE UNION. CALHOUN'S ATTEMPT TO DIVERT THE ROUTE 

While no longer occupying official station, Hayne was by no 
means free from duties, in their nature public, as appeared in the 
Post-office episode, finally settled satisfactorily, although it be- 
came the occasion of some ill feeling between Senator King of 
Georgia and Calhoun a little later; yet this greater freedom of 
action enabled him the more clearly to recognize the future power 
of the developing West. It was characteristic of the man that he 
was never too self-opinionated to gather instruction from an ad- 
versary or to refuse to entertain a view because he had at one time 
failed to appreciate its exact application. Prior to his election 
to the United States Senate in 1822, it has been suggested that 
he was the author of the suggestion, in the fall of 182 1, that a 
railway, to be operated by steam power, might solve the difficul- 
ties of transportation in South Carolina, and that the line, if 
laid down, should be from Charleston to Augusta, with a fork to 
Columbia. If Hayne had been as active in perpetuating the 
recollections of his own achievements or recalling to the attention 
of his correspondents and audiences the suggestions which were 
to the credit of his own sagacity, as he was in recording the wisdom 

383 



i 



384 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

of others, more would be known of the man ; but in this forgetf ul- 
ness of self he greatly resembled Lowndes. If he was this indi- 
vidual "H," there were not lacking reasons why he should have 
failed to press the subject more actively at that time. First, the 
nomination of Lowndes for the Presidency, at the very session of the 
Legislature, to whose attention the writer had called the patent 
railway. Second, the engrossing duties imposed upon him (Hayne) 
as chief legal adviser and general superintendent of police power 
during the investigation of the Denmark Vesey insurrection; 
and lastly, his own nomination for and election to the Senate of the 
United States, at a time when the question of the tariff dwarfed 
every other issue. The patent railway had been exhibited in 
Charleston in the early part of 1822 ; ^ but for nearly four years the 
idea of transportation by railroads made little headway. In the 
early part of 1825 there is a complaining note concerning the 
neglect of this means of transportation,^ but hardly any sustained 
effort along this line prior to 1827. Under the leadership of Aiken 
and Horry, and with the assistance of others, whose fame Hayne's 
subsequent speeches preserved, the railroad had advanced with 
great energy until, by the death of Elias Horry in 1834, the pro- 
jected march to the West was halted. For narrow, local reasons 
Columbia opposed the project, and in fact in scarcely any quar- 
ter outside of Charleston did it receive any substantial support. 
For this, Charleston's business men and property holders were not 
entirely free from blame. The road was refused access to the water 
front, and the merchants were accused of burdening the produce, 
brought in with such unnecessary charges as to drive cotton to 
Savannah. In addition, while the general government was most 
unreasonable in behavior with regard to the matter of the carriage 
of the mail, a little more tact on the part of the railroad management 

* Phillips, "History of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt," p. 136. 
" City Gazette, April 8, 1825. 



THE WESTERN ROAD 385 

might have adjusted the matter, without the loss of $10,000 a year, 
which the contract brought in. Very probably the meeting in 
Cincinnati in the fall of 1835, which started active interest in the 
great Western Railroad scheme with which South Carolina was 
occupied from this time for some five years or more, owed its origin 
to the investigations and reports of Elias Horry, president of the 
Charleston and Hamburg Railroad, before brought to notice in 
1833 and 1834. Be that as it may, in October, 1835, a lengthy 
and well-thought-out statement regarding the construction of a 
railroad between Charleston and Cincinnati was laid before the 
Charleston public, as emanating from a group of Western men of 
prominence, at the head of whom stood General William H. Harri- 
l| son,^ a senator from Indiana, during a part of the time of Hayne's 
service in the Senate. The distance was estimated to be 609 miles, 
viz., 80 miles from Cincinnati to Lexington, Kentucky; thence to 
Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, 130 miles; thence to the French Broad 
River, North Carolina, 54 miles ; thence to Columbia, South Caro- 
lina, 215 miles; thence to Charleston, 130 miles. The blending of 
the practical and the sentimental in the appeal with which these 
Western men concluded their call for a general movement in behalf 
of the undertaking was well calculated to stir the interest of 
many South Carolinians, and Hayne especially. "In conclusion," 
, declared the framers, "we would address ourselves to South 
' Carolina, the oldest Southern member of the original thirteen, 
I and to Kentucky the first born of the Union, and ask them whether 
" their relative rank and seniority do not impose on them the duty 
of promptly moving in this national enterprise. . , . The people 
of those States, from their very origin, have been distinguished 
I for traits of character which, in the days of external dangers, 
' were most precious to their brethren, and should the same energies 
of feeling and action now be thrown into the arts and enterprises of 

* Charleston Courier, Oct. 8, 1835. 

2C 



386 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

peace, results must be obtained at once honorable to themselves and 
beneficial to the Union." With this call ringing in his ears, Hayne 
was deaf to Calhoun's suggestion for sectional action, with regard 
to the Abolitionists. He had tried argument and had tried force, 
and upon him, in the last, had been imposed the heaviest weight 
of responsibility. He desired no more arraying of State against 
Nation, section against section. He knew the Force Bill had not 
been repealed, and would not be, and he must have remembered that 
Calhoun had declared that either the Force Bill or the political 
connection must yield. The compromise concerning the tariff 
was more to him than the theory of nullification. He believed the 
Union to be in danger. The appeal to reason had produced no 
result ; the appeal to force had indeed been successful ; but evidence 
was not lacking that the victory had been won at some cost, and at 
any moment the battle might be on again, with no further chances 
for a compromise. Here, now, was presented the opportunity for an 
appeal to interest. With all the ardor which had characterized him 
in his senatorial career, he flung himself into this industrial enter- 
prise; and his associates, recognizing his worth, placed him at 
their head, and imposed upon him the labor and responsibility, 
as had been the case in the Senate from 1824 to 1832 in the long 
fight against the tariff. On November 5, 1835, ^^ submitted the 
report of the committee appointed to examine into the projected road 
to Cincinnati, of which some extracts give an idea. It was a char- 
acteristic of Hayne to remember and comment upon the achieve- 
ments of others; but never his own. Calhoun's habit of calling 
attention to former suggestions, the wisdom of which time seemed 
to have established, helps not infrequently to a better conception of 
some historical facts. For instance, the assumption that it was 
about this time that Calhoun urged upon Hayne the advisability 
of calling a Southern convention concerning Abolitionistic activity, 
is not only borne out by the fact that the Mercury, devoted to Cal- 



THE WESTERN ROAD 387 

houn, contained article after article of that nature ; but also because 
three years later, in replying to some communication of Hayne con- 
cerning the Abolitionists, Calhoun reminds him that he, Calhoun, 
advised action; but failed to obtain his cooperation. This "I 
told you so" phrase, however, was not Hayne's habit, and hence, 
after being mformed of the deep interest taken by the citizens of 
Charleston in the projected road, we are not surprised to note the 
information from him that "the late Stephen Elliott seven years ago 
pointed out through the columns of the Southern Review the facility 
with which the commerce of the West could be brought to Charleston 
by a railroad (connecting the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi 
with the Atlantic Ocean) , by which, in six days, commerce might be 
taken from the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi to this 
city, and in five days a return cargo be delivered at the same point." * 
Allusion also is made to valuable and thoughtful suggestions by 
Joel R. Poinsett, Charles Edmondston and Elias Horry; but no 
allusion to the very extraordinary suggestion of "H" in 182 1, that 
by steam power a road might be operated from Charleston to 
Augusta, with a fork to Columbia, although there is a development 
of the very idea — a habit somewhat peculiar to Hayne and noticeable 
in his speeches — with regard to ideas particularly attractive to 
him. "H" had suggested, in 182 1, the possibility of effecting by 
steam power what might be beyond horse power ; and Hayne says 
in this report in 1835, "The application of the mighty power of 
steam to machinery has given an impulse to our whole country, 
which has impressed the public mind with a deep and settled con- 
viction that to American skill, enterprise and perseverance nothing 
in the way of improvement is impossible." The route, he thought, 
could only be determined after careful examination; but this 
done, the advantage to the whole country would be incalculable. 
"A railroad which shall enable the citizens of Charleston and 

* Charleston Courier, Nov. 5, 1835. 



388 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



Cincinnati, of Lexington and Louisville, to visit each other, and 
return home in the course of a few days, would multiply the cords 
of sympathy, by which men's hearts are united, and from which 
spring all the gentle charities of life. The natural effect of all this in 
strengthening the bonds of our political union will be felt by every 
one who reflects on the influence of social intercourse in smoothen- 
ing asperities, removing prejudices and binding us together by those 
social ties which are among the strongest bonds of society. In one 
point of view, these considerations assume an importance to which 
too much weight cannot possibly be given. We allude to the effect 
which such a connection must have upon the peculiar institution of 
the South. Slavery as it now exists in the Southern States, which 
we all feel and know to be essential to the prosperity and welfare, — 
nay, to the very existence of these States, — is so little understood 
in other portions of the Union that it has lately been assailed in a 
spirit which threatens, unless speedily arrested, to lead eventually 
to the destruction of the Union, and all the evils which must attend 
so lamentable an occurrence. We believe that an establishment of 
such an intercourse with the Western States, as is now proposed, 
would have a powerful tendency to avert this dire calamity." 
Continuing, the report indicated how earnestly New York, Boston, 
Philadelphia and Baltimore were moving for what was offered to 
Charleston, and how "impossible it was to remain stationary when 
all others were pressing on." And that "to remain inactive is to 
lose the prize." The result of the report was an appropriation of 
$5000 for an immediate survey, and the appointment of a commit- 
tee of Correspondence, with Hayne as its head. At Columbia, 
Abraham Blanding, Wade Hampton, Senator Preston and others 
had taken hold of the project, Preston in an eloquent speech having 
criticised Columbia severely for failing to assist the road in the 
past from Charleston to Columbia ; and, upon declining the proposal 
of the Courier that a vacancy should be made for him in the Charles- 



THE WESTERN ROAD 389 

ton delegation to the Legislature, Hayne was enabled to state: 
"After a free interchange of opinions between the Columbia and 
Charleston committee, it has been determined that application shall 
be made to the Legislatures of the several States interested, for 
charters to be granted to a joint committee, for which subscriptions 
will be opened as soon as the necessary surveys and estimates can 
be made." He also stated that Colonel Blanding had consented 
to take charge of the petitions to the Legislatures of Tennessee, 
Kentucky and North Carolina, where, on account of his high 
character and extensive acquaintance, he could not fail to obtain 
a favorable consideration/ So far, all are moving together; 
but on November 11 there appears in the Mercury a letter from 
Calhoun to J. S. Williams, one of the most influential of the Western 
movers. It is dated July, 1835. After expressing his pleasure 
at the proposed connection between the South Atlantic and the 
West, *' an object which I have long considered the most important 
in the whole range of internal improvements," he claims to have 
made arrangements at Charleston in the spring of that very year 
"to give the first impulse from that point"; that he had agreed to 
prepare a memorial in the course of the summer ; but not obtaining 
the requisite information from the report of Colonel Long, "the 
deep excitement of the South in consequence of the interference of 
a certain description of persons at the North with our domestic 
institutions, rendering it impossible at that time to attract public 
attention in this quarter to the great object in contemplation, 
induced me to postpone any movement." From this he elaborates 
what has been put forward in the Cincinnati pamphlet and Hayne's 
report, declaring that "the only question is the line of route." 
Then he endeavors to show that a different route is much better. 
His argument is that: "The river (the Tennessee) has broken or 
turned the whole Alleghany chain to the Southwest, except an incon- 

' Charleston Courier, Nov. 9, 1835. 



390 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

siderable ridge of a few hundred feet in height, which has resisted it. 
... In consequence, there is no impediment to the construction of 
a railroad from Charleston to the head of steamboat navigation on 
the Tennessee." Having called the attention of his correspondent 
to the fact that beyond the railroad from Charleston to Augusta, 
136 miles completed, there was one under way, thence to Athens, 
Georgia, about 100 miles, which he thinks would probably be 
completed in a year or two, he estimates the distance as follows, 
"From Athens to the valley of the Tennessee or eastern termination 
of the Decatur Railroad and to Muscle Shoals, 200 or 250 miles." 
And ending all calculations and estimates some 200 or 300 miles 
short of where the projectors' interests were mainly centred, he 
blandly observes : " From the bend of the Tennessee you can best 
determine the difficulties. At all events, when the railroad reaches 
the Tennessee, the connections of the South with the whole of the 
Mississippi Valley will be complete." After giving the cheerful in- 
formation, that even if connection by rail is made with Cincinnati, 
much of the heavy transportation would be made by steamboat, 
he closes with the declaration that as a railroad is projected from 
the bend of the Tennessee to Memphis, consequently the movement 
of population and industry is towards Arkansas and will make the 
region described the industrial centre of the country. Under date 
of October 17, he writes again, acknowledging receipt of pamphlets, 
and noting: "The Meeting takes a different view of the route 
from the one which I had suggested in my letter to you. It certainly 
has the advantage of being far more direct and of passing through 
a large tract of interesting country, which now is almost shut out 
from Market. . . . The road would pass through the entire 
length of this State, say 250 miles, nearly half of the entire distance, 
and I think I may say with confidence that if Kentucky, Tennessee 
and North Carolina, through which it would pass, and which have a 
deep interest in its execution, will execute the portion which may 



THE WESTERN ROAD 391 

be within their respective limits, South Carohna will meet our 
Western brethren on her Northern and Western limits with a well- 
executed railroad to her commercial capital. ..." While if both 
prove practicable, — he sees no reason why one should supersede the 
other, — he seems fully alive to the danger to " the grand design of 
uniting the two sections," which may arise through "rivalry and 
conflict," against which he inveighs.^ This second letter does not 
seem, however, to have been given to the press, while the first was, 
as we see, nigh a month after the penning of the second. As in 
some measure a counterpoise to Calhoun's arguments for a change 
in the route, a letter from Judge O'Neall to Hayne was a little later 
made public, in which this ornament of Carolina's great bench 
indorsed most unreservedly the proposed route through the centre 
of the State, expressing incidentally his great pleasure to have it 
again in his power to think and cooperate with Hayne in a great 
public matter. After many valuable and practical suggestions to 
bring all in to the work which he believes "can be constructed by 
South Carolina alone," he concludes with the declaration: "There 
is no scheme of internal improvement that has ever so much inter- 
ested me, and for which I should be ready to make so many sacri- 
fices. For if it succeeds. South Carolina will be prosperous beyond 
all former calculations, and the Union of the States will be as lasting 
as the rocks and mountains which will be passed and overcome 
by the contemplated road." ^ On the same day as this letter, ap- 
pears the report of Colonel Gadsden, the engineer engaged by the 
Charleston committee, that from actual examination of the gaps of 
the Saluda Mountain, the railroad may be made to cross the chain 
with more facility than was first imagined.^ Governor McDufiie 
gives the scheme some encouragement in his Message to the 
Legislature, and by that body R. Y. Hayne, P. Noble, Thomas 

' "Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 346-347. 

* Charleston Courier, Nov. 26, 1835. ' Ibid., Nov. 26, 1835. 



392 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



Smith, A. Blanding and C. Edmondston are appointed com- 
missioners. Calhoun had, however, been actively engaged in 
correspondence with the two Georgia congressmen, Clayton and 
Dawson, and also Colonel F. Carter, to whom he intimated that 
he would use his influence with Ker Boyce and Hamilton in be- 
half of the Georgia enterprise; ^ and at Cincinnati, where a great 
meeting was held at the close of the year, mention is made of the 
receipt of letters from Calhoun, Hayne, Governor Cannon of 
Tennessee and the Georgia Railroad Company. 

* "Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 349-352. 



CHAPTER II 

THE POLITICAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD 
IN THE LIGHT OF ABOLITION AGITATION. THE REVOLT OF 
H. L. PINCKNEY FROM THE DOMINATION OF CALHOUN OVER 
THE SOUTH CAROLINA DELEGATION EST CONGRESS. THE 
KNOXVILLE CONVENTION. HAYNE MADE PRESIDENT 

The expression used by Hayne in his report concerning the 
Western Raikoad, " Slavery as it now exists in the Southern States, 
which we all feel and know to be essential to the prosperity and 
welfare, nay, to the very existence of these States," represented 
the views of some who had imperceptibly changed with the times. 
It does not seem to have been an absolutely prevailing view in 
South Carolina in Hayne's youth, and it was apparently against 
just such a view that D. E. Huger, K. L. Simons and Hayne had 
contended in the South Carolina Legislature in 1818, in opposition 
to McDuffie, Lance and Witherspoon, when the debate had been 
characterized as one which had elicited a greater degree of elo- 
quence than had been heard in that body for years. It is true, 
that in the debate on the Panama mission, in the United States 
Senate in 1826, Hayne had taken a position not at all opposed to 
his attitude in this report of 1835; yet, in 1827, when he had had 
an occasion to go most thoroughly into the subject, he had declared 
unequivocally that time would settle the matter, and that slave 
labor must give way and cease to be profitable when it came into 
competition with free labor. As Governor in 1833, he had called 
attention to the abuses of the system, as Bennett and Lyde Wilson 

393 



394 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

had done in their time; but he could not fail to be somewhat 
affected by that growing belief in the institution of slavery, which 
the successful outcome of the nullification struggle had unques- 
tionably strengthened. Yet Hayne's declarations concerning 
slavery, even when supporting the system, are always qualified. 
At no time, nor by any expression, does he ever commit himself to 
the belief in such a condition as his two great contemporaries, 
Calhoun and McDuffie, unhesitatingly do. In this very year, 
Governor McDuffie took occasion to state in his Message to the 
Legislature, ''No human institution, in my opinion, is more mani- 
festly consistent with the will of God than domestic slavery, and 
no one of his ordinances is written in more legible characters than 
that which consigns the African race to this condition, as more 
conducive to their own happiness than any other to which they are 
susceptible." ^ With this sentiment growing in the South, and 
the Abolition sentiment increasing in the North, to a man of Hayne's 
practical mind it was only a question of time when the clash would 
come. The growing divergence in opinion must be checked, if 
the Union was to be preserved. Argument had been tried, and 
had proven useless. The sections were straining apart. They 
must be knit together by a bond of interest so strong as to stand 
the tugs of differing views, while time adjusted the great question 
to the industrial growth of the future. This was why the Western 
Railroad meant so much to Hayne. Calhoun's view of the railroad 
question, apparently, was somewhat different. In the first place, 
it is doubtful whether he ever conceived of transportation by rail, 
serving more than as an adjunct to water transportation, and the lim- 
itations of his understanding of the subject furnish some excuse for 
his determined opposition to the plans of those better equipped to 
grapple with the question, than time has indicated he was. He 
had no objection to a connection with the Northwest, and would 

* Mercury, Nov. 27, 1835, 



PRESIDENT OF THE KNOXVILLE CONVENTION 395 

have been glad to see it eflfected, for his love of the Union was deep 
and profound; but for all that, it is probable that he contemplated 
a division as possible in the future, and his aim seems to have been 
more to connect the South more closely than to draw together 
the North and South as one. 

Abraham Blanding had meanwhile attended the convenings of 
the Legislatures of North Carolina and Tennessee, which had re- 
sponded favorably, and after a visit to Cincinnati, where he was 
received with demonstrations of great interest, he proceeded to 
Kentucky. Here the first open obstruction to the great enter- 
prise appeared; for the conditions under which the Legislature 
of Kentucky granted a charter to the road were almost prohibitive. 
First, in addition to the line between Cincinnati and Lexington, 
provision must be made for lines to Louisville and Mayesville; 
second, the Legislature retained the right to buy out the road after 
a certain period ; third, Kentucky must have six out of the twenty- 
four directors, leaving three each for the other four States. But 
not content with these preposterous conditions, an attempt was 
also made to strike out the provision for any road to Cincinnati. 
This, however, failed.^ The only possible excuse for this behavior 
of the legislators of Kentucky lay in the fact that they may have 
suspected that part of the interest of the States north of the Ohio 
River was in the opportunity offered to boom Harrison for the 
Presidency, which the movement might afford. Certain it is, that 
in Blanding, Harrison had an advocate. Indeed, if we measure the 
interest of Indiana and Ohio as evinced by words and deeds, the 
contrast is somewhat astonishing. On February 8, 1836, the Leg- 
islature of Indiana passed the following preamble and resolutions, 
"Whereas the Governor of this State, at the present session, laid 
before the Legislature the proceedings of a public meeting, held 
at Cincinnati in August last, on the subject of a railroad from the 

' Charleston Courier, Feb. 17, 1836. 



396 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

banks of the Ohio River to the tidewaters of the Carolinas and 
Georgia; and also the proceedings of the chamber of commerce 
of Charleston, held in October subsequent, with other documents; 
and whereas the successful prosecution of the said work is insepa- 
rably connected with the commercial, political and social interests 
of Indiana, as well as the more enlarged and delicate interests of 
the Union: Resolved that the General Assembly view with the 
liveliest interest the project." For this interest they assigned 
four separate reasons, concluding with a fifth which reechoes the 
sentiments of Hayne : " Resolved that it is in view, however, of its 
effects upon the social and political condition of our common coun- 
try, that they regard it as most important ; that they look upon it 
as a measure which more than any other in this present age will 
tend by its operations upon the trade and intercourse of remote 
and comparatively alienated sections of this confederacy to har- 
monize the jarring elements of now discordant and conflicting in- 
terests, feelings and habits ; that they look upon it as an iron chain, 
which will evidently tend to connect with new ties this glorious 
Union, which is the basis of our common prosperity and of well-regu- 
lated liberty." ^ If Indiana ever did anything in the smallest de- 
gree for the road, the record does not seem to have been preserved. 
In the same year, at Washington, a matter of considerable im- 
portance came up, and as it developed seemed pregnant with great 
political possibilities, as far as South Carolina politics were con- 
cerned. This was the Declaration of Independence, or the revolt 
of Calhoun's ablest henchman. For ten years H. L. Pinckney 
had supported Calhoun, with voice and pen and faith so clinging 
as to injure his own reputation for consistency, in fact to such a de- 
gree as almost to destroy it. He had attacked or supported Jackson, 
as the exigencies of Calhoun's political measures had required that 
the former should be magnified or belittled, and he had warred 

• Charleston Courier, April 8, 1836. 



PRESIDENT OF THE KNOXVILLE CONVENTION 397 

most relentlessly against all who opposed in the slightest the views 
of his great leader. When Calhoun was opposed to Crawford, 
Pinckney had echoed his chief's declarations against the extreme 
State Rights supporters of the Georgian, with a fluency and force 
and a picturesqueness of phrase far beyond the power of Calhoun. 
When Calhoun took up the doctrine of nullification, Pinckney 
championed the policy without reserve. No man in Charleston 
was so intensely hated by the Unionists as H. L, Pinckney; but 
he was a power in the city; and when in 1830, at the outset of the 
struggle over nullification, the Unionists in Charleston swept 
almost everything before them, they could not prevent the election 
of Pinckney to the Legislature, or secure the return of their own 
I leader, Petigru, between whom and Pinckney there existed a 
hatred almost cordial in its stimulating influence. And in the 
hour of their exultation, Pinckney caUed these facts to the recollec- 
tion of the Unionists. In recognition of his services, the nullifiers, 
unable to nullify in 1830, made Pinckney Speaker of the South 
Carolina House of Representatives, and, in 1832, Drayton no longer 
being a possibility, Pinckney succeeded him in Congress. Too 
able and ambitious to be content with obscurity, having won a 
second election over Alfred Huger in 1834, with McDuffie's aban- 
donment of Congress to become Governor, no one was left in the 
congressional delegation Pinckney's equal, as speaker or legislator, 
and he, not unnaturally, strode to the front. In 1835, as has been 
shown, the South, and particularly Charleston, had been greatly 
stirred by publications sent through the mails. Action had been 
demanded, and in 1836 the administration attempted to stop the 
distribution of such matter. But upon its appearance, Calhoun 
promptly opposed the bill, for which he was roundly denounced 
by Senator King of Georgia, who accused him of trying to prevent 
the administration from protecting the South simply on account of 
his hostility to the administration. This Calhoun denied, declaring 



398 ROBERT Y. HAYNE ij^' 

that the administration bill affected State Rights, as the States 
should decide what should or should not be distributed through 
their borders. Yet Calhoun writes to Duff Green just about this 
time: "The Senate, I fear, is subdued. I never saw so little spirit 
in the body. There has, however, sprung up a fine spirit in the 
House among the young men from the South and West. . . . 
Among this band, Wise has taken a noble stand. He has made the 
most effective speech ever delivered against the administration." * 
But in the episode, Wise does not seem really to have accomplished 
as much as Pinckney. The incident, from which the discussion 
arose, was precipitated in the following way : John Quincy Adams 
had introduced a petition to abolish slavery in the District of Co- 
lumbia, with regard to which he declared a report could be offered 
which would satisfy the people of the North that Congress had 
no power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.^ Owen, 
thereupon, moved a resolution that any petition on the subject 
of the abolition of slavery ought to be laid on the table without 
debate. This, Glascock desired to amend with a declaration that 
any agitation was calculated to disturb the compromises of the 
Constitution, for which Wise offered a substitute, in effect declaring 
that there was no power to legislate, and an attempt would be dan- 
gerous. Into this tangle Pinckney interposed with a motion that 
all memorials, together with the resolutions, amendments and sub- 
stitutes referring thereto be intrusted to a select committee, with 
instructions to report "that Congress has no authority to meddle 
with slavery in any of the States ; that Congress ought not to meddle 
with it in the District of Columbia, and to assign such reasons as 
would allay excitement, preserve the just rights of the slave-holding 
States and establish harmony and tranquillity among the sections 
of the Union." ^ Later, evidently, there was added to this a section 

'"Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 356. ^Courier, Feb. 2, 1836. 

' McMaster, "History of the People of the United States," Vol. 6, p. 295. 



PRESIDENT OF THE KNOXVILLE CONVENTION 399 

declaring "that all petitions hereafter with regard to slavery be 
laid on the table." * But this attempt to mollify Wise pleased 
neither Adams nor Wise, and the latter, with his usual intolerance, 
denounced Pinckney as a deserter. But Pinckney had partici- 
pated in too many stormy gatherings to be very profoundly per- 
turbed by the frantic vituperation of a man of Wise's caliber, 
and in the light of the vote the silent contempt with which he 

||| received it was appropriate. More disturbing than Wise, the 
assaults of the Telegraph and his own home paper, the Mercury, 
failed to move him, and, in addition to the overwhelming majority 
with which the House sustained him, he carried with him two 
other congressmen from South Carolina, Rogers and Manning, 
the latter of whom not only voted with him, but sustained his 

I position with an able speech. The resolution declaring that Con- 
gress had no power to interfere with slavery in the States was 
adopted by a vote of 182 to 9; that which declared that Congress 
ought not to interfere with slavery in the District of Columbia 

:i passed by a vote of 132 to 45; while the one reciting that all pe- 
titions hereafter with regard to slavery be laid on the table, went 
through by 117 to 68.^ The last was what excited Adams; but 
it brought Pinckney so close to the position of Calhoun that it is 

I difficult to understand wherein his great offence lay. He was 
charged, however, with inclining to Van Buren, an accusation 
which, it is instructive to note, was levelled by one of his severest 
critics, and one of Calhoun's most intimate associates, against Cal- 
houn himself, in the following year. On the floor of Congress, 
Pinckney's triumph was complete; but it was at home, in the re- 
tention of his seat, that the really serious struggle would come. 
In daring to differ with Calhoun, he had bearded "the lion in his 
den, the Douglas in his Hall," and he would have to reckon with 
those who upheld Calhoun. Against him would be his quondam 

' Courier, March 18, 1836. ^ Ibid., June i, 1836. 



400 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

associate of other days, that stalwart nullifier, General James 
Hamilton, who, with the additional prestige which clothed one who 
had been Governor, could fairly claim to have divided with him 
the leadership of the nullification struggle in the city of Charleston. 
Nor could he count on Hayne's support; for it must be admitted 
that in the last of his resolutions he had indirectly condemned the 
introduction of the first two, and somewhat reduced the question 
to one within the power of Congress to pass upon, a position the 
South did not accept. To cast an additional damper on his pros- 
pects, Manning, the ablest of the Unionist leaders at that time 
in the interior of State who had supported him with voice and vote, 
suddenly died. Nothing daunted, however, by the odds, Pinckney 
issued his election address and opened the struggle. 

Meanwhile Hayne was devoting himself assiduously to the rail- 
road. Surveyors were despatched with instructions to report to 
the Board of Survey at Flat Rock, North Carolina, on June 20, 
to enable that body to prepare a report for the convention which 
wfts to meet at Knoxville, Tennessee, on July 4, and, as chairman, 
he issued an address calling on the people throughout the State to 
select delegates to represent them there. In this address he be- 
sought them not to consider local interests or sectional jealousies, as 
the matter rose far above even the great material interests involved, 
and furnished the one way of preserving the Union.^ Leaving 
young Colcock to examine the route through Pendleton District 
more completely, he pushed on to Flat Rock to prepare his report. 
A subsequent letter indicates that he examined a route, later made 
much of by Calhoun, as pointed out by a guide furnished by resi- 
dents acting with Calhoun in this matter. 

On July 4, 1836, the convention opened at Knoxville, Tennessee. 
Delegates from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee attended, 380 in all. 

' Courier, March 30, 1836. 



PRESIDENT OF THE KNOXVILLE CONVENTION 401 

Hayne was unanimously chosen president and Blanding presented 
the report which the South Carolina Board of Survey had prepared. 
From the result of the investigations made by the three or four 
engineers appointed by the State of South Carolina, and the four de- 
tailed by the Secretary of War, it was declared, " There is no route 
within the limits of the existing charter by which a railroad can 
be carried across the Blue Ridge that must not pass along the valley 
of the French Broad River, and the commissioners are under a full 
conviction that this valley affords by far the best channel of com- 
munication between the Ohio River and the Atlantic Ocean." * 
The report of the committee of forty-five made it clear that, for the 
times, it was a most stupendous undertaking. The estimate for 
the 241 miles required in South Carolina was $2,514,546; for the 
100 miles in North Carolina, $2,560,000; for the 90 miles in Ten- 
nessee, $2,700,000; for the 250 miles necessary to reach both 
Cincinnati and Mayesville, $3,040,500 would be required; while 
with regard to the additional branch to Louisville, the distance 
approximated only was put at $990,000. The report entered 
very fully into the material advantages of the great road, but did 
not fail to bring out that which had seemed of such transcendent 
importance to Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina, "its controlling 
and permanent influence on the peace and perpetuity of the Union 
by practically increasing the reciprocal dependence of the North 
and the South from Michigan to Florida by establishing connec- 
tions in business, promoting friendships, abolishing prejudices, 
creating greater uniformity in political opinions and blending the 
feelings of distant portions of the coimtry into a union of heart.''^ 
This is the note struck again and again by Hayne from the incep- 
tion of the enterprise until his death: "Let this be pressed home 
upon the States, and let them be urged by every consideration of 

' Proceedings of the Knoxville Convention. Printed by Knoxville Reg. Office, 
p. 5, Report of So. Ca. Commissioners. 

2 D 



402 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

patriotism and duty not to neglect the means which Providence 
seems at this time to have thrown in their way, for the purpose of 
effecting the greatest object, which it may ever be in their power 
to accomplish, — that of forming a lasting union between the West 
and the South, by binding them in the golden chain of mutual 
sympathies and common interests; by breaking down all the bar- 
riers which now divide them and causing the stream of commerce 
to spread its benign and fertilizing influence through regions which 
want only this to become the fairest portion of the globe." ^ By 
the Charleston Courier it was declared: "Hayne has acquired 
imperishable honors in this convention. After the most hearty 
thanks of the convention hacl been awarded him, he made a most 
beautiful and happy address in parting, and thus has our labor 
terminated." ^ By the convention, Hayne was requested to issue 
an address, setting out the results for the public to act upon. This 
task he accomplished with his usual ability, not belittling it in the 
slightest degree; but claiming in all sincerity: "If Maryland can 
afford to appropriate $8,000,000 to secure her share of the com- 
merce of the West ; if the young and flourishing State of Indiana 
finds it to be her interest to become responsible for $10,000,000 to 
be expended on works of internal improvement, it must be com- 
paratively easy for the six or eight flourishing States chiefly inter- 
ested in our great work to raise any amount that could possibly 
be required for its speedy accomplishment."^ In his "History 
of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt," Professor Ulrich 
B. Phillips has discussed this address. In the main, the synopsis 
he gives of it is correct ; but he seems to have been betrayed into 
criticism of Hayne, which the authority he depends upon does not 
fairly bear out. He says in that most interesting and otherwise 

* Address of Hayne, President of Knoxville Convention, Pamphlets, Vol. 2, 
No. 10, p. 35, Charleston Library Society. * Courier, July 18, 1836. 

^ Address of Hayne, President of Knoxville Convention, Vol. 2, No. 10, p. 4, 
Charleston Library Society. 



PRESIDENT OF THE KNOXVILLE CONVENTION 403 

instructive work: "In conclusion, Hayne stated the charter re- 
quirement of subscriptions amounting to $4,000,000 prior to Jan. 
I, 1837, and he gave the reckless advice that every man should 
subscribe for as many shares as he could see his way clear to paying 
the first instalment of $5 upon." ^ Hayne stated: "The charters 
provide that subscriptions for stock shall be opened in the several 
States, on the third Monday in October next, to raise the sum of 
$4,000,000 in shares of $100 each, on which $5 shall be paid at 
the time of subscribing . . . the books are to remain open till the 
first of January following, when, if the sum of $4,000,000 shall 
not have been subscribed . . . the charters are declared to be 
forfeited, and the enterprise will have utterly failed. Should this 
amount be subscribed then, the Company is declared to be estab- 
lished and are allowed two years to commence operations and ten 
to complete the work, with liberty to raise the further amounts that 
may be required by additional subscriptions, loans or otherwise, 
and they are created a corporation in perpetuity, with ample powers 
and privileges." The advice he gave was not at all to be described 
as reckless; for it was not, as Professor Phillips puts it, "that every 
man should subscribe for as many shares as he could see his way 
clear to paying the first instalment of $5 upon" ; but, " Every man 
who can afford it, should subscribe liberally ; he who can spare only 
$100, may subscribe for twenty shares, and he who can spare but 
$5, for one share." ^ 

Hayne believed, as he said, a failure would be fatal. He invited 
and solicited from every man who could afford to "spare" it from 
$5 to $100, to save the charters, in the limited time, in which it 
was allowed to procure them, " to mould into one brotherhood the 
now estranged and alienated inhabitants of our widely extended 
Republic." 

* "History of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt," p. 186. 

* Address of Hayne, President of Knoxville Convention, Pamphlets, Vol. 2, 
No. 10, p. 33, Charleston Library Society. 



CHAPTER III 

pinckney's defeat. Calhoun's new route, small amount 
or subscriptions outside of south carolina. mc- 

DUFFIE's powerful CRITICISM. HOW IT WAS MET. THE 
VOTE OF THE STATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

While these events of great interest to the business world, and 
fraught with such enormous possibihties for the future poHtics of 
the whole country, were transpiring, H. L. Pinckney was struggling 
desperately to get back to Congress, where, under the circumstances, 
he would have wielded great influence. It is impossible not to feel 
some sympathy for his bold and independent ambition ; but he had 
cut his way ruthlessly to power, trampling upon all who opposed 
or questioned Calhoun's policies, and, as numerous anonymous 
correspondents pointed out, he was only receiving what he had 
meted out to others. Yet it required all the political astuteness of 
Calhoun's lieutenants in Charleston to defeat him, and, had they 
not waged the campaign with peculiar shrewdness, it would have 
failed. First, that Unionist least objectionable to the nullifiers, 
a gentleman of exceptional culture and many accomplishments, 
who had been away from the State and out of the United States 
during the stormy nullification period, Hugh Swinton Legare, 
came hurrying home from Belgium, and, in addition. Holmes was 
brought out by the nullifiers. A meeting of the Unionists was 
called to decide whether they should support Pinckney or Legare. 
Richard Yeadon was for Pinckney, Petigru, DeSaussure and 
Alfred Huger for Legare, and they carried the meeting with them ; ' 

^Courier, Sept. 12, 1836. 
404 



PINCKNEY'S DEFEAT 405 

still, the influence of the editor of the Courier was strong enough to 
lead many Unionists to Pinckney, while John and A. G. Magrath 
rallied their State Rights friends in his support. It was necessary 
to extract a declaration from Hayne, and he, while asserting his 
close personal relation to Pinckney, which would prevent his op- 
posing him, declared that he thought he had made a grave mistake, 
and had so written him at the time. He also stated that as 
Intendant or Mayor, to which office he had shortly before been 
elected, with the views lived up to by him as Governor, he could take 
no part in local politics. The contest was close, but Legare was 
elected. Before this had occurred, however, Calhoun had begun 
a second movement against the French Broad route. Finding 
that he stood almost alone in advocacy of the junction with the 
Georgia route by connection between Augusta and Athens, a 
junction which Augusta barred by her opposition to a bridge, 
connecting Hamburg, the terminus of the Charleston line, with the 
road to Athens, asserted at the time to have been designed on a 
different gauge, for the purpose of preventing this very junction, 
he exerted himself to secure support for a route "following the 
old Cherokee trading path . . . and crossing the summit of the 
Blue Ridge from White Water Creek, a branch of the Keowee to 
the Tuckasiege." Informing James Edward Calhoun that he has 
examined the route in company with Colonel Gadsden, he urges 
him to get up meetings, have parties qualify for directors as "with 
proper efforts the road may be taken this way ; and if it should, I 
do not doubt that it will be the best stock in the State. I feel 
confident that $6,000,000 by the Carolina gap will carry it from 
Charleston to the Ohio, such is the great facility of the route." * 
Hayne had during this period been actively at work, as reports 
from agents despatched to Baltimore and other communications 
indicate. Among these letters is an interesting one from Colonel 

^"Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 363. 



4o6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Gadsden, explanatory of his position. He wishes it to be under- 
stood that he had voluntarily withdrawn from the survey, not that 
he had been superseded ; ^ but he thinks the conduct of the com- 
missioners of South Carolina towards him needs explanation. 
From this, however, he proceeds to a discussion of routes, declaring, 
"I am more than convinced that by explorations ... a way 
can be found to the summit of the Blue Ridge, and I am not so 
sure that by either the Green River or Gap Creek I can so extend 
the inclined plane as to ascend at either of these points on inclina- 
tions not exceeding 45 or 50 feet to the mile." ^ From Patrick 
Noble, R. F. W. Allston and others, Hayne receives communica- 
tions, and Blanding writes of his own address, "I must have your 
revising hand before it goes to press," and inquires as to the neces- 
sary amendments to the charters, " so as to let in Georgia according 
to the intentions of the Knoxville convention." But Hayne had 
anticipated this by writing to the Governor of Georgia, who had 
promised to place his communication before the Legislature at its 
convening.^ Such was the situation when the meeting in Pendleton, 
to which Calhoun alludes, took place, with regard to which a copy 
of the proceedings were sent to Hayne. That Hayne considered 
this publication as to some extent unjust to the railroad, is ap- 
parent from his reply. He denies that the object of the commis- 
sioners has been to designate any particular route, but to obtain 
information for the Legislature: "For this purpose a route in the 
near neighborhood of that indicated by you was explored in May 
by Captain Williams and myself, which appeared to us manifestly 
impracticable. Of this Mr. Calhoun himself seems to be per- 
fectly satisfied ; but he thinks we were ' misled by our guide.' If 
this was so, the fault was not ours. We applied to the committee, 
appointed by the citizens of Pickens District to direct us, one of 

* Original letter from James Gadsden, Aug. 13, 1836. _ * Ibid. 

' Original letter from Governor Schley of Georgia, Sept. 2, 1836. 



PINCKNEY'S DEFEAT 407 

whom accompanied us on the route, and we obtained, moreover, 
the best information to be had from the inhabitants, in the imme- 
diate neighborhood, all of whom agreed that the route we traced 
was the best known to them and if that was found to be imprac- 
ticable, there was no hope of finding any better in Pickens District." ^ 
He advises them that they can lay all information in their possession 
before the Legislature and, from his pains to show them, "if the 
route ought to have been surveyed the omission is in no way 
chargeable to us," it looks as if, on the very eve of the opening of 
the books, the enterprise was subjected to an unfair criticism. 
Every effort was made by those sincerely interested ; but the result 
fell below anticipations, the total subscriptions from South Caro- 
lina being, at this time, only $3,133,650. But if South Carolina 
failed to come up to what was hoped for, what must be said of the 
response of the other States ? Tennessee came second with a sub- 
scription of $355,400, and Kentucky, which had demanded two 
extra branches and an elaboration of roads costing at the lowest 
estimate $4,089,780, and whose Legislature had demanded double 
the number of directors assigned to each of the other States, sub- 
scribed the magnificent sum of $187,100 to the enterprise, $92,000 
for one route and $95,000 for the other two. The undertaking 
could not be fairly considered as in the interest of other than a por- 
tion of North Carolina, therefore her contribution of $102,600 was 
not quite as small as at first it might have appeared : but the sub- 
scription of Ohio was farcical ; it amounted to $12,200. The total 
subscriptions therefore fell short by $209,050 of the amount nec- 
essary to secure the charters; but this amount Wade Hampton 
of South Carolina, already a munificent subscriber, made up.^ 
It was in all probability about this time that Calhoun wrote the 
letter to Patrick Noble which appears in the correspondence as 
edited by Professor Jameson, as of date November 8, 1832, which the 

' Courier, Oct. 19, 1836. ^ Ibid., Nov. 25, 1836. 



4o8 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

context discloses clearly it could not have appeared in, as it relates 
to events not happening until 1836. After stating that he foresees 
a great deal of agitation in relation to the railroad, and finding 
some fault with the Legislature, he says : — 

"Let it be fixed that the two routes by the French Broad and 
Tuckaseege shall be surveyed, and that one which is the shortest, 
cheapest of construction, of the most favorable grading, and which 
shall from its direction command the greatest amount of trade and 
travelling shall be selected and the whole State will acquiesce. 
Even the selfish would be ashamed to object. I answer for it, that 
the people in this quarter would cheerfully assent to such a course. 
It is the only one that can unite all." ^ This is an important letter, 
and it is a pity he did not live up to the high sentiments here put 
forth; but before he concludes, he somewhat spoils the effect 
by directly charging the State Legislature with favoritism to the 
section north of the Santee and demanding " justice" for the section 
in which the Tuckaseege route, mainly if not entirely, lay, i.e. the 
section south of the Santee. As we have seen, the amount neces- 
sary to procure the charters was secured by the additional sub- 
scription of Wade Hampton, and so the first step in the great enter- 
prise was accomplished and time to work out the details afforded; 
but when the amount of the subscriptions became generally known, 
the disappointment was keen. It was true that it was positively 
declared that Governor Cannon of Tennessee would be author- 
ized to subscribe one-third of the cost of the road through Ten- 
nessee; but with that the portion through that State would lack 
from the State something like $1,445,000, and if Kentucky did add 
to the pitiful sum of $187,100 the $2,000,000 which the press of 
the State airily promised, yet that would be little more than half 
the amount she had made essential to get the road through her 
borders to the Ohio River. To sum the matter up, one-fourth 

'"Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 321. 



PINCKNEY'S DEFEAT 409 

of the sura needed had been subscribed, and more than three- 
quarters of that, by one State, — South CaroHna. Eloquent reso- 
lutions had been passed in the States of South Carolina, Ohio and 
Indiana apropos of the road and the Union. In spite of nullifica- 
tion, South Carolina had subscribed $3,343,200 and Ohio $12,200, 
which was increased to $22,200 when it was found the amount 
necessary had been subscribed to enable two of her citizens to 
qualify as directors. If it be true that "money talks," there was 
not much talk of the Union north of the Ohio at this time. It 
was in this condition of affairs that the thoughts of the citizens of 
Charleston turned to the project of a bank, to assist the enterprise ; 
but in addition, at the meeting, where it was determined to apply 
for such, it was also decided that the Legislature be invoked "by 
every consideration of patriotism and duty, to resolve in the name 
of the State, in no event, to suffer the work to fail ; but to be pre- 
pared to do whatever may be found necessary to insure its success." * 
A strong committee, consisting of Robert Y. Hayne, Charles 
Edmonston, Ker Boyce, James Hamilton, J. L. Petigru, A. Bland- 
ing, Wade Hampton, Thomas F. Jones and W. F. Davie, was 
appointed to carry into effect such measures as, in their opinion, 
might be necessary to insure the success of the road, and then those 
interested waited developments. On November 28, Governor 
McDuffie sent in his message to the Legislature, and that portion 
of it which dealt with the railroad was a powerful argument against 
it, as chartered. Indeed, the contrast between the mordant logic 
of its crisp sentences, with not an unnecessary word, its pitilessly 
just analysis of the result and the rather extravagant expressions 
in other parts of the same paper, wherein appear bombastic ref- 
erences to the achievements of Xerxes, etc., almost suggests the 
revising hand of Calhoun, with regard to the portion of so much 
interest to him. Calhoun was at the capital, and a letter from 

' Courier, Nov. 25, 1836. 



4IO ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

him on the eve of his departure gives views which are strikingly 
in accord ; but before quoting from this, the message should be dis- 
cussed. The Governor advised : " Until the route shall be defi- 
nitely selected and active operations commenced, the emergency 
does not seem to call upon the States interested to embark in the 
work as stockholders. Moreover, there are some considerations 
growing out of the mode of constituting the Board of Directors, 
prescribed by the charter, as amended by Kentucky, and the relative 
sums subscribed in the different States which renders it a measure 
of obvious prudence on the part of South Carolina to procure a 
modification of the charter or to make a conditional subscription. 
The act of incorporation passed by this state provided that 3 out 
of 24 directors should be chosen from qualified stockholders 
residing in each of the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Tennessee and Ohio, and that 9 should be chosen from all the stock- 
holders. The amendment interpolated by Kentucky provides 
that 6 of the directors shall be chosen from stockholders residing 
in that State; while only 3 shall be chosen from each of the 
other States, leaving but 6 to be chosen indifferently from all the 
stockholders. This very exceptional claim of undue power on the 
part of Kentucky becomes absolutely revolting when we advert 
to the fact that the entire subscription in that State amounts to 
less than $200,000, and that no person there has subscribed a 
sufficient number of shares to qualify himself to be chosen a direc- 
tor. In this state of things a board of directors cannot be organized, 
and if it could, Kentucky, with less than a twentieth part of the 
stock, would wield one fourth part of the power of the company. 
On the contrary, South Carolina, owning five sixths of the stock, 
could in no event have more than 9 directors ; while the holders of 
one sixth, out of South Carolina, shall have 15. This is certainly 
an unprecedented anomaly in the organization of corporate powers, 
and I think the people of South Carolina have been sufficiently 



PINCKNEY'S DEFEAT 411 

admonished, by bitter experience of the fatal consequences of hav- 
ing their interests controlled by a foreign and irresponsible power, 
to make them very cautious in placing the power on one side ; while 
the interest to be affected by it is on the other. . . . Upon every 
principle the road should commence at Charleston and proceed 
continuously on towards its Western termination, at least until 
the money contributed in South Carolina shall be expended. 
And yet, it will be in the power of directors out of the state to re- 
verse the operation. . . . There is no practical view of the sub- 
ject that can make it the interest of the company or the great public 
concerned in the contemplated work to cover Kentucky with rail- 
roads for the privilege of passing through the State. If the road 
goes to the Ohio river, some one point should be selected, and as 
Ohio has contributed almost nothing, it would be much wiser to 
carry it directly to Louisville, leaving Cincinnati out, if a branch to 
Louisville is the only condition on which we can obtain the privi- 
lege of passing through Kentucky. There is another alternative 
preferable, in my opinion, even to this. It is to make the mouth of 
the Nolachucky, the Western termination of the road, which, ac- 
cording to the estimate, will reduce the cost from 12 to 5 million 
dollars." ' Then, taking up the suggestion of banking privileges, 
the message combated the grant strongly and warned the body of an 
impending financial crisis. Altogether it was a profoundly impres- 
sive argument against the plans of the Charleston meeting and, con- 
sidered from the practical view concerning a commercial under- 
taking, almost unanswerable. That Hayne was able to reform 
his broken line in the face of this fire is an indication of his phe- 
nomenal talents as a constructive statesman and leader of men. 
While McDuffie's message was, then, a very great State paper, 
there was not in it the slightest gleam of interest in any attempt 
"to mould into one common brotherhood the now estranged and 

* Courier, Dec. i, 1836. 



412 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

almost alienated inhabitants of our widely extended Republic." 
That this was a live and vivid interest to a considerable portion of 
South Carolina subscribers was not to be doubted; while to the 
dauntless spirit at the head it was the reason of reasons why the 
road should be pushed through, in spite of every obstacle. Truly, 
then, the situation was a difficult one to handle. Suppose it was 
admitted that the cost of the road to the mouth of the Nolachucky 
would be but $5,000,000, what was the assurance that that amount 
could be raised ? The total amount subscribed by North and South 
Carolina was $3,445,800, and of this $209,050 had been subscribed 
distinctly to secure the charters for the enterprise, as originally 
designed, a road from Cincinnati to Charleston. That certainly 
could not be expected to be renewed for something so different, and 
if not that, how much of the remainder, when it was announced 
that the plan as originally contemplated was abandoned? Even 
an influence as great as Calhoun's had been powerless to change the 
route before, because it was the connection between Charleston 
and Cincinnati that stirred the popular heart, and for it the char- 
ters had been obtained. Something like a million would probably 
be forthcoming from Tennessee, and if Kentucky gave the two 
millions which the press of the State promised, with a million 
from the State of South Carolina, two-thirds of the estimated 
amount would be subscribed for, with the banking privileges to 
supply the rest. Business men of tried ability thought well of the 
plan, and it had to be adopted, or the project fall through ; there- 
fore there was no disposition to accept the conclusions of the Gov- 
ernor ; but on the other hand to hold as closely as possible to the 
original plan. It is apparent that every concession which could 
be made to placate Calhoun was attempted which in reason could 
be offered; but from his own letter nothing but an unconditional 
surrender would have availed. The terms with which alone he 
would have been content were extravagant to a degree, and the 



PINCKNEY'S DEFEAT 413 

suspicious temper which his letter reveals could not have failed 
to have provoked discord had he been chosen as the head of the 
enterprise. A letter written upon the eve of his departure indi- 
cates with what lack of temperance Calhoun regarded a difference 
of opinion with him. The letter is dated from Columbia, December 
9, 1836, and is to James Edward Calhoun, whom he desires to go 
to Knoxville " to see what is going on." Speaking of conditions in 
Columbia, he says : " I fear the game is in the hand of Blanding, 
and that the enterprise will be so managed as to sink millions with- 
out any substantial advantage to the State. The push at this mo- 
ment is to get banking privileges, and a subscription on the part 
of the State, without waiting the Surveys. The object is to com- 
mit the State so that she cannot recede, let the selection be ever 
so objectionable. I fear both objects will succeed; and if they 
should, that the whole concern will terminate in little better than a 
stock jobbing affair. Williams is here, and I hear that the survey 
has been recommenced since I left home. I have no confidence 
in his impartiality and but little in his judgment. The route he 
has ordered to be surveyed on the east side of the gap is calculated 
to deceive, unless one should fully understand the topography of 
the country. . . . The elevation of the gap is probably greater 
than I estimated it; but unless it should exceed 1500 feet above 
the mouth of 12 miles, after taking off the crest by a tunnel, which 
is not likely, the whole may be run down at an angle not exceeding 
30 feet to the mile, by keeping along the side of the Chatugee 
Mountain, round the North fork of the Cheochee, passing down 
near to Tomassee and on the ridge between Cane creek and Little 
river, and crossing the Keowee on a high bridge below the mouth 
of 12 miles. ... All I ask is an impartial survey, when I am at 
home and can attend to it. . . . As to the Presidency [of the rail- 
road], I see so much that I do not approve, that I have concluded 
that I had better have nothing to do with it. The only terms on 



414 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

which I could accept would be that it should be tendered to me 
without solicitation by the company from a confidence in my capac- 
ity and integrity, and then only on condition that the best route 
should be selected, and I should not be brought into conflict with 
any of my friends. In a word, if I take it, it must be solely from a 
sense of duty. I cannot think there is the slightest prospect that 
it will be tendered on such conditions, and my friends had better 
not bring my name forward. I read my letter to Hayne on this 
subject to Burt. . . . The more I reflect, the more I am con- 
vinced that the success of the road will depend on the direction, 
and that on striking Steam navigation on the intermediate streams 
between the Blue Ridge and the Ohio at the nearest and most 
favorable parts. . . . Any route that overlooks this important 
advantage must fail." ^ 

From this letter it is apparent that Calhoun's ideas concerning 
the great project were, first, that it should mark time until he could 
get through his duties at Washington and return to South Carolina; 
second, that, while he was willing to direct it, he would only do so 
if all responsibility were eliminated and he was promised not only 
that the best route should be selected, but he should be assured 
that he would not be brought into conflict with any of his friends. 
Reflecting upon the judgment and impartiality of the engineer, 
he yet indicated that something had induced him to realize that the 
estimate with regard to which he had found himself in opposition 
to this official was incorrect in some particulars, as it was shown 
later to be in almost all. It would be difficult to obtain a greater 
contrast between the attitude of two great public men concerning 
great public measures than that which this letter portrayed and the 
spirit which animates Hayne's inaugural upon his resignation of 
the senatorship. Upon the day following Calhoun's departure, 
a meeting of the stockholders of the road was held in Columbia, 

^ "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 365. 



PINCKNEY'S DEFEAT 415 

and Edmonston moved the appointment of a special committee to 
confer with the Legislature concerning the bank and for a liberal 
subscription. Judge Colcock spoke in opposition, being replied 
to by Blanding, Ker Boyce, Memminger, Elmore, Jones, Mills 
and others, and Edmonston's resolutions were carried without a 
dissenting voice/ The act of the Legislature as it was finally 
framed, met all the difficulties of the situation, the charter being 
amended by a provision " that three out of the twenty-four directors 
of the said company shall be elected from the stockholders re- 
siding in each of the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Caro- 
lina and South Carolina, and twelve of the said directors may be 
elected from the stockholders at large, without regard to their place 
of residence. That the said Railroad Company shall be discharged 
from all obligation to construct any branches of the said Railroad 
in the State of Kentucky, or to extend the main road in the said 
State further than from the southern line thereof to Lexington in 
the said State. That whenever it shall be the unanimous vote of 
the general directors residing in any State requiring it, the general 
board of directors shall apply the amount subscribed by that State 
or its citizens in the first place to the construction of such portions 
of the said road as may be within the limits of the State. In case 
the State of Kentucky should not agree to the amendments above 
proposed, the said Railroad Company shall be and hereby is con- 
stituted a body politic and corporate in the States of South Caro- 
lina, North Carolina and Tennessee, with all the powers, rights and 
privileges granted to it by the Acts of the Legislatures of the last 
mentioned States incorporating it, discharged from all obligations to 
construct any road in the State of Kentucky, or to have any resident 
directors therein or to have more than twenty-one general directors; 
but nothing herein contained shall be construed to release the said 
company from the obligation to extend their road to the southern 

^ Courier, Dec. 13, 1836. 



4i6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

boundary of Kentucky." ^ In addition to the passage of this 
act, which fairly met and answered the Governor's very powerful 
assault, without capitulating to it entirely, very liberal banking 
privileges were granted against his advice, with restrictions and 
conditions that the capital of the bank should not exceed $6,000,000 
until the road should reach the Tennessee line; nor $9,000,000 
before it touched the boundary of the State of Kentucky ; whence, 
as it proceeded to Ohio, the amount could be raised to $12,000,000. 
Preston was reelected to the Senate by practically the entire vote 
of the State Rights faction; but among the few votes cast in op- 
position was one for Calhoun. As Calhoun was at the time a 
Senator, one wonders whether this vote was an exhibition of Peti- 
gru's sarcasm. In the caucus of the State Rights party, with re- 
gard to the election of President and Vice-President of the United 
States, the names of Van Buren, Harrison and White were all three 
brought forward. The first received not a single vote, the second 
one and the third not sufficient to make him the choice of the faction, 

and with ill-becoming levity it was decided to vote for Mr. , 

of Charleston, for President, and John Tyler for Vice-President. 
The somewhat questionable humor of this selection seemed to 
appeal with less force to the members of the faction at the time of 
the vote, and Mangum, of North Carolina, and John Tyler became 
the choice of the State. In the election which followed, Harrison 
developed unexpected strength, carrying the States of Vermont, 
New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, 
White securing only two, Tennessee and Georgia, while Webster 
and Mangum each carried but one; Van Buren, however, obtained 
a considerable majority over all in the electoral college. 

» Statutes So. Ca., Vol. 8, p. 431. 



i 



CHAPTER IV 

MEMMINGER SECURES THE ACCEPTANCE BY NORTH CAROLINA OF 
THE AMENDED CHARTER FOR THE ROAD. ANONYMOUS 
ATTACK ON ROAD IN MERCURY. HAYNE's REPLY. SUSPEN- 
SION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS BY NORTHERN BANKS. ACTION 
OF CHARLESTON BANKS 

The year 1837 opened with a determined and intelligently 
directed effort to pull the railroad project into proper shape with 
the change of front made necessary by the slight support outside 
of South Carolina and the powerful criticism contained in Mc- 
Duffie's message. By the amendments to the charter every ob- 
jection urged by the Governor had been reasonably met; but the 
task was now to get the States of North Carolina, Tennessee and 
Kentucky to accept the changes. For this work C. G. Memminger 
was appointed and empowered by the newly elected Governor, 
Pierce M. Butler, to appear before the North Carolina Legislature 
and lay the matter before that body. It would have been difficult 
to have made a better selection. Memminger was no longer the 
young and aspiring lawyer whose candidacy for the position of 
Attorney-General of the State, just prior to nullification, had so 
shocked the conservatism of the Charleston press. He had made 
his influence felt not only at the bar, but in the legislature, and 
in a new field it was now to be exhibited. The North Carolinians 
were not very friendly to the project. With regard to it, as origi- 
nally planned, Governor Swain had promised that, if North Caro- 
lina did not aid, she would not oppose. She had aided with a small 
2 E 417 



^ 



418 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

subscription. Having done so, she was now asked to grant privi- 
leges to an alien corporation. The Speaker of the North Caro- 
lina House of Representatives, Haywood, an able man and leader 
of the Van Buren forces in the State, was opposed. The vote of 
South Carolina for Mangum of North Carolina was declared to be 
an intrusion by South Carolina into the politics of North Carolina, 
and, by a vote of 24 to 22, the Senate refused to grant the banking 
privileges. The fight seemed lost, but by a vote of 24 to 21 the 
vote was reconsidered * and Mr. Memminger accorded the privi- 
lege of addressing the joint assembly. The North Carolina press 
was, in the main, against the grant, on account of nullification. 
The Raleigh Standard, voicing the views of the opposition, in the 
following publication: "In the hands of patriotic friends of the 
Union — and none are patriots who are otherwise — it might be 
productive of all the good that its warmest friends desire. But if it 
fall under the control of disappointed ambition and aristocratic 
pride, how long could the people resist its overwhelming and cor- 
rupting influence?" Special objection was made to "the Cal- 
houns, the McDuffies and the Hamiltons." ^ Speaker Haywood 
exerted himself to the utmost, but Memminger's clear and forceful 
utterance, supported as it was by members of the body, carried the 
measure through by a vote of 53 to 49 in the House.^ His luminous 
discussion reveals his perception even then of the great possibili- 
ties of the cotton manufacturing industry lying dormant, but later 
to grow to such astonishing dimensions in that very region. He 
declared that the banking privileges were absolutely essential to 
the construction of the road. Following close upon this victory, 
the stockholders met at Knoxville, and R. Y. Hayne was unani- 
mously chosen president of the Company. In the language of the 
correspondent of the Courier: " Indeed no other gentleman appears 
to have been thought of — all eyes were turned to him as identified 

* Courier, Jan. ii, 1837. ^ Ibid., Jan. 18, 1837. 

^ Ibid., Jan. 17, 1837. 



AMENDED CHARTER FOR THE ROAD 419 

with the road and giving the greatest confidence to the stock- 
holders." ^ The French Broad River route was definitely chosen. 
From South Carolina the 9 directors selected were R, Y. Hayne, 
James Hamilton, Charles Edmonston, INIitchell King, B. F. El- 
more, Abraham Blanding, John C. Calhoun, John W. Simpson 
and Robert G. Mills. From Ohio the three chosen were E. D. 
Mansfield, William Green and Joseph Bonsai. From Kentucky 
there were 6, Robert Wickliffe, W. H. Richardson, James Taylor, 
J. W. Tibbatts, J. B. Cary and J. L. Ludlow. The 3 from Tennes- 
see were John Williams, J. G. M. Ramsay and Alexander E. 
Smith, while F. E. Hardy, Thomas J. Forney and Benjamin 
Roberts represented North Carolina. The total amount sub- 
scribed was $4,333,200, paid up, on the 5 per cent instalment, 
$218,660, of which South Carolina's share was $3,525,100 sub- 
scribed and $176,255 paid in, so that, contributing over six-eighths, 
she contented herself with but three-eighths of the board, yielding 
one-eighth to each of the States, North Carolina, Tennessee and 
Ohio, and two-eighths to Kentucky. It could not be denied that the 
nullifying State was acting most liberally. Major McNeill was 
appointed Chief Engineer, and Captain Williams, Associate. The 
latter, who had been assisted by Lieutenant Drayton and Mr. 
Featherstonaugh, reported exhaustively on the route sprung on 
the Company between meetings by Calhoun and Gadsden, which 
was shown to have an absolute rise and fall in 30 miles of 5159 
feet to 1294 along the French Broad valley.^ 

Hayne did not attend the meeting at Knoxville, at which he was 
chosen president of the Company, his duties as Mayor of Charleston 
keeping him too closely occupied. At his recommendation many 
useful improvements had been undertaken, among which may be 
mentioned the purchase of the lots and continuation of the Battery 
around the south side, as a public walk, constituting what is now 

> Ibid., Jan. 25, 1837. ^ Ibid., Jan. 27-30, 1837. 



420 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

known as White Point Garden, prior to that time the promenade 
having been confined to the eastern side. A call for subscriptions 
to 8000 additional shares of the South Carolina Canal and Railroad 
Company, promptly oversubscribed, made about this time, directs 
attention to the Company's reply to the invitation of the Louisville, 
Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad to unite with it at Columbia 
or any other point on the charter limit. The South Carolina Canal 
and Railroad Company offered to construct a road from Branch- 
ville to Columbia, having the same stability and permanency as 
the road above Columbia, and that the same should be completed 
and put in full operation as soon as 100 miles in a continuous line 
should be made and put in operation by the Louisville, Cincin- 
nati and Charleston Railroad Company above Columbia.^ This 
seems to have been the wisest way in which the great project could 
have been worked, and had it not been for the war, which was con- 
ducted from within against the French Broad route, very probably 
would have been adopted; but with the hope of ending this, the 
much more expensive plan of purchase was later entered into, as 
will be shown. 

A public dinner offered Senators Calhoun and Preston, upon the 
end of the session of Congress, indicated considerable irritation at 
the defeat of Congressman Pinckney, still glowing in Charleston, 
the Courier declaring that his defeat "was only effected, and even 
then with great difficulty, by a combination of those who disap- 
proved of his conduct with those of the Union party who, while 
approving of Mr. Pinckney's course, yet from party or private con- 
siderations preferred the eloquent and talented Legare, who is not 
only a Unionist and friend of the present administration, but is 
believed not to differ from Mr. Pinckney in his view of the proper 
mode of meeting the Abolition question in Congress." ^ The din- 
ner was held. Mayor Hayne presiding; but it was immediately 

1 Courier, Nov. 24, 1836. * Ibid., Feb. 15, 1837. 



AMENDED CHARTER FOR THE ROAD 421 

ij followed by a Pinckney dinner, which was in many respects a 
peculiar demonstration. While few if any men of great promi- 
nence attended, it was a large and enthusiastic gathering, and the 
second toast breathed revolt. It ran as follows: "The Right of 
Individual opinion — Inestimable to freemen — formidable to 
tyrants only — The patriots of the revolution died to acquire it — 
We can never live to abandon it." ^ Theoretically this was fine, 

(' but when, later in the festivities, William Drayton was extolled, 
for the loss of whose seat in Congress and the impairment of whose 
right to express his individual opinion Pinckney was probably 
more responsible than any individual in Charleston, an element of 
the grotesque was introduced. Nevertheless, it was an illustration 
of an effort to shake off that iron grasp which was fastening 
on the politics of South Carolina. Meanwhile, so well had Hayne 
conducted the affairs of the city that great pressure was brought 
to bear upon him to induce him to stand for reelection. His legal 
practice must have been impaired, if not entu-ely destroyed, by 
his long connection with public affairs. His property must have 
been modest and his expenses not small, making the salary an in- 
ducement, and there was interesting work to occupy him; but to 
him the great Western Railroad project meant much more than a 
great industrial work. To him it appealed as the salvation of the 
State and the preservation of the Union. This last he firmly 
believed to be threatened by the Abolition movement, into which the 
aged ex-President John Quincy Adams had flung himself with all 
the ardor of one released from all earthly ties and fanatically 
devoted to an ideal long smothered by policy and personal ambi- 
tion. The times were threatening, and Hayne, having been elected 
to the position of president of the Western road, determined to bend 
every energy henceforth to that one task, accordingly declined the 
reelection to the mayoralty. Yet the mood in which he undertook 

' Ibid., April 10, 1837. 



42 2 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the stupendous task of binding together, in that day, the alienated 
sections of the Republic by an iron highway for commerce moving 
through, in some places, untrodden regions, could hardly be de- 
scribed as sanguine. Rather was it the spirit in which he had, at 
the call of his State, resigned his seat in the United States Senate, 
to accept the perilous position and heavy responsibilities of Gov- 
ernor during the nullification period. In declining the reelection 
to the mayoralty, in regard to the Railroad he said: "I feel in 
devoting my best efforts to the advancement of so great a work 
I am rendering the highest public service in my power. I shall 
enter upon this duty with the firm resolution to secure success, 
if success be practicable and, at all events, to make such efforts 
as shall relieve myself, as well as the people of this city and State, 
from any imputation, should the work be destined to fail." ^ The 
panic of 1837 had begun to be felt, but that did not obscure his 
clear, practical view of the situation, as was evidenced by his ac- 
curate analysis of that trouble. " More than half of the difficulties 
under which the country now labors," he said, "arise from want 
of confidence in ourselves and our resources, which, leading to 
corresponding efforts, would be the most effectual remedy for exist- 
ing evils. But, however that may be, I am not disposed to relax 
in any degree my efforts to advance the Railroad, from any appre- 
hension of the difficulties which may lie in the way." 

Those difficulties now arose in every direction. The banks of 
New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore suspended specie payment, 
and President Van Buren issued his proclamation convening Con- 
gress in the following September.^ In every quarter was confusion, 
irritation, fault-finding and abuse. Ex-Senator Smith, nominated 
by Jackson for the Supreme Bench and confirmed by the Senate, 
had declined the honor in a letter which about this time reached 
the public, and which, while wittily ridiculed by the Mercury, was 

' Mercury, May 15, 1837. ' Courier, May 23, 1837. 



AMENDED CHARTER FOR THE ROAD 423 

a forceful utterance. "His political infirmities," which that paper 
gave as the reason, was not entirely inaccurate; for he had based his 
declination on his desire to continue fighting for his ideals; but for 
Smith to extol Pinckney's Abolition resolutions, as he did in the 
Alabama Legislature, was indicative of something which could not 
be so described ; for to Pinckney, more than any one save the two 
individuals who at different times had supplanted him in the 
Senate, Smith owed the loss of his seat; as, against him and in 
behalf of Calhoun, the columns of the Mercury had ever been 
directed by Pinckney as editor. To meet the difficulties and 
dangers of the financial situation, meanwhile, a meeting had been 
called in Charleston and a committee, of which Mayor Hayne was 
a member, appointed to consider and report. The report was most 
encouraging. Without a single exception, the Charleston banks 
were found not only solvent, but in a highly prosperous condition ; 
and notwithstanding the continued demand for specie, by which 
large amounts had been withdrawn, there remained in the vaults 
$1,096,786.50 in gold and silver, to which, they reported, might be 
added a large amount of public stock equivalent to specie. The 
total amount of their notes in circulation was found to be at this 
time $3,501,619.88; assets, $17,858,091.03; assets beyond all 
liabilities, $7,864,113.40; surplus and clear profit, $832,794.92. 
The committee, however, reported that the suspension of specie 
payments by the banks of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore 
would soon drain this "if our banks continued to redeem their 
notes in specie." It was therefore advised : "ist: That the notes 
of each bank should be freely received by every other in deposit 
and payment of debts, 2nd: That each bank should lay before 
the others a weekly statement of their transactions. 3rd: That 
weekly adjustments should take place of the balance due by the 
banks to each other. 4th : That during the suspension the issue 
of banks be confined within narrowest limits consistent with wel- 



424 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

fare and wants of community, and with a view to the resumption 
of specie payments at an early day." ^ The banks having cheerfully 
agreed to these conditions, it was resolved to suspend specie pay- 
ments temporarily, to protect the Charleston banks from the inevi- 
table result of the suspension of the banks elsewhere ; but to pay 
bills of $1 and $2 of the Bank of the State and so much specie (es- 
pecially in small change) as the public might require. A corre- 
spondent from New York, after giving a gloomy picture of condi- 
tions there, claims this proceeding in Charleston, probably the first 
attempt at a clearing house, had raised the credit of Charleston 
and the State, but he warns the public of further trouble from the 
operation of English bankruptcy laws. We have seen that in his 
declination to consider a reelection to the mayoralty and his deter- 
mination to devote all of his energies to the railroad, to the presi- 
dency of which he had been elevated without a dissenting voice, 
Hayne had declared that "half our difficulties arise from lack of 
confidence." The change in charter which had become necessary 
had been accepted by North and South Carolina, and the tactful 
surrender to Kentucky by South Carolina, with regard to the 
number of directors at the expense of South Carolina, had, it was 
reported, brought about the acceptance by that State of the altera- 
tion in the original plan, comprised in the substitution of a road 
simply to Lexington, in place of the network of roads over Ken- 
tucky, branching from Lexington to Cincinnati, Louisville and 
Mayesville.^ It remained, therefore, to obtain the consent of Ten- 
nessee and Kentucky to the banking privilege grant and to finish 
the survey of the route between Branchville and Lexington, Ken- 
tucky, a line of about 500 miles, when the work of construction 
could commence. Major McNeill and his assistants had been in 
the field but a few months, plodding through untrodden forests 
and over great mountains and crossing wide and rapid rivers, far 

* Courier, May 18, 1837. * Ibid., Feb, 25, 1837. 



"i\ 



AMENDED CHARTER FOR THE ROAD 425 

from anything approaching civilization, in many quarters. For 
the times it was a most stupendous work they had in hand, and it 
was most essential that before any step should be taken the most 
thorough information should be at the disposal of the Board of 
Directors, especially in the light of the disturbed financial condition 
of the country. Yet this was the time selected by an anonymous 
correspondent for a venomous assault upon the personnel of the 
enterprise. Writing under the nom de plume of "Many Stock- 
holders," this individual attacked with insinuation and innuendo 
the president of the company and the engineers. The tone of the 
communication was rancorous, the style that of one unused to 
epistolary labor, but well versed in engineering work, especially 
that which had been done for the General Government. Appear- 
ing in the Mercury, it ran as follows : " Many Stockholders in the 
Charleston, Louisville and Cincinnati Railroad, in their individual 
right as well as in the right of others whose interests they guard and 
represent in said company, are desirous of ascertaining from the 
President and direction what arrangements have been consummated 
and what contracts, if any, have been made with a chief engineer, 
with a view to the survey in contemplation for the present season. 
It is well understood that the officers of the Company, including 
the Engineer department, have been selected; but it is equally 
notorious that the subject of their compensation (which should 
have been settled on selection) has been left an open one, and that 
in accepting and entering on duty (as the direction failed in fixing 
the salaries they deemed adequate) , exactions for themselves, on 
the part of the chief and associate Engineers, have been made and 
listened to by the President and Board ; while to the chief Engineer 
(with most extravagant pretensions) has been given full authority 
to compensate his subordinates as his judgment may direct. All 
threatening (for want of previous understanding and arrangement) 
collisions which ought to have been avoided by those entrusted 



426 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

with the administration of our affairs, or the necessity of yielding 
to most extravagant extra expenditures, which no company, how- 
ever liberal its views or large its funds, can ever long sustain. The 
reconnoisances and surveys should constitute an inconsiderable 
fraction (a cipher) in the mass of unavoidable expenditures for 
grading and construction; but if a chief engineer, for mere tem- 
porary services, who acknowledges a superior allegiance elsewhere 
and that he can bestow on the road only an inspective supervision, 
is to receive $20,000 per annum for such occasional services, his 
associate about half that sum, and the President and division sub- 
ordinates (on whom, however, it seems by this organization the labor- 
ing oar is to fall) in proportion, we would ask what relative amounts 
must be awarded the superior officers of the company and how much 
of the 5 per cent paid of the subscription will be left in the Treasury 
at the close of the year, when such unprecedented salaries are sub- 
mitted, . . . The Charleston, Louisville and Cincinnati Railroad 
originated as it was generally supposed in high and patriotic senti- 
ments, and it was the impulse of those feelings which impelled many 
individuals to take a deep interest in a project involving so many 
commercial and political considerations, and even to embark sums 
beyond their ordinary means. They still confidently hope that, 
like other projects, this magnificent one will not be paralyzed by 
humbuggery and mystification and that the contribution of gener- 
osity and high wrought feelings will not he converted into a purse 
to he scrambled for. What would have been the fate of the Ham- 
burg and Charleston Railroad, that proud monument to the enter- 
prise and disinterestedness of our citizens, if pretensions for salaries 
so disproportioned to services rendered had then been preferred 
and submitted to . . . If an Aiken and a Horry had not vol- 
unteered personal services without compensation and advanced 
pecuniary means with but a distant hope of remuneration?"^ 

* Mercury, May 31, 1837. 



AMENDED CHARTER FOR THE ROAD 427 

Alluding to the compensation of Allen and his assistants, and citing 
Bernard as having done unremitting work by day and night for 
the General Government at not much more than $4000 a year, and 
j declaring that v^ith but little more than that the exclusive services 
of practical and successful men could be commanded, the writer 
\ warns the public we are approaching a time which enjoins economy, 
etc., subscribers may withdraw, States may refuse to grant the bank- 
ing facilities and: "To the road and its accomplishment, if we 
would direct our means, we must hold our agents responsible for 
the manner in which they apply them." 

While containing some criticism which might have been pro- 
I ductive of good, if put more fairly, the tone of this piece was so 
j ill-natured as to be injurious, and Hayne realized it must be an- 
! swered at once. Not having attended the meeting at which the 
engineers had been selected, and knowing that as president he had 
had nothing to do with the choice, he not unnaturally assumed 
that they had been chosen by the company, which he later corrected, 
! when informed that their selection had been made by such of the 
Board as were present at Knoxville. With regard to salaries, how- 
ever, he stated definitely that they were not as it had been insin- 
uated; that no final arrangements had been made with the chief 
engineer, while the president had not cost the company a cent. 
To this he added : "The President will here further state that while 
he has felt himself constrained to accept the office from an assur- 
ance that no other arrangement satisfactory to the stockholders 
generally could be made, he shall be ready to surrender this trust, 
on the slightest intimation that he does not enjoy their entire 
confidence. With regard to compensation, he is perfectly willing 
to leave it to the company to say whether he shall serve them gratui- 
tously or otherwise." Continuing, he deprecated the indulgence of 
a captious spirit calculated to add to difficulties by exciting distrust, 
as nothing could be easier "in the present circumstances of the 



428 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

country" than "to shake public confidence in any great work." 
While realizing the possibility of failure, in view of the wrecks in 
every direction, he asserted: "We have so far, however, advanced 
prosperously, and our present condition is peculiarly fortunate. 
The objectionable provisions introduced by Kentucky into the 
charter have been repealed by her Legislature, and the amend- 
ments proposed by South Carolina adopted." He defended the 
use of the most skilful and experienced engineers, and thought 
the time they must take would enable the country to recover 
from the embarrassment then noticeable. He argued that with 
two-thirds of the cost of the road through Tennessee pledged by 
that State, and one million dollars subscribed by South Carolina, 
in addition to the four million already subscribed with the banking 
privileges, there was a reasonable prospect of success, and expressed 
the hope that "no premature abandonment, no jealous spirit of 
distrust, but above all, no groundless imputation of unworthy 
motives, will be allowed to disturb the harmony, defeat the efforts 
and paralyze the energies, on which the success of the work en- 
tirely depends." ^ 

So unfair was this attack deemed, that the Mercury stated it 
would depart from its usual custom in refraining from comment 
on such publications, to declare itself not in sympathy with the 
article which it believed expressed not the view of "many stock- 
holders, " but that of only one person of importance, and that in the 
opinion of the paper, "Hayne's relinquishment of his station would 
be the most fatal blow to the prosperity of the company." ^ 

"Many Stockholders" continued his articles, to which there 
were replies by others; but as, from every quarter, at this time 
encomiums were being pronounced upon Hayne's management 
of the city in which he was described as "from earliest dawn until 
night examining with his own eyes the public works and seeing that 

• Courier, June 2, 1837. * Mercury, June 3, 1837. 



AMENDED CHARTER FOR THE ROAD 429 

the city officers did their duty," in the effort to get him to reconsider 
his determination not to stand for reelection, it was difficult to 
work up an opinion in opposition to the practically unanimous 
declaration that " the retirement of such an official would be a public 
loss." ^ Yet within a month or two there comes a fresh cry from 
an anonymous source that " it is not yet too late to recoil from the 
false position and unite in the accomplishment of a road half 
finished." ^ And it was apparent that, with the elimination of the 
Tuckaseege route, by the report of the engineers demonstrating 
its impracticability, secret influences were again at work, if not for 
the Georgia road, at least against the French Broad route. 

» Courier, June 10, 1837. ' Ihid., July 8, 1837. 



CHAPTER V 

MEETING AT CHARLESTON TO DENOUNCE BANKS CAPTURED BY 
OPPONENTS. REVEREND FISKE THREATENS BLOODSHED IF 
HAYNE PRESIDES. HAYNE PRESIDES AND FISKE IS STRUCK. 
EX-GOVERNOR WILSON AND WADDY THOMPSON CRITICISE 
THE CHAIRMAN, HAYNE's TERM AS MAYOR ENDS SUCCESS- 
FULLY. DIVISION IN CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION FROM 
SOUTH CAROLINA. PETIGRU A FALSE PROPHET 

Whether caused by the inconveniences arising from the panic 
or having much deeper root, there grew up in the State of South 
Carohna, in this year of 1837, a feehng of great hostihty to the 
national bank and to some extent to banking in general, among 
the rougher classes, and in July a meeting seems to have been 
called in Charleston to fulminate against them. Just what con- 
nection H. L. Pinckney had with this, it is difficult to understand. 
It seems to have been expected he would preside ; but he decided 
not to attend. He was a candidate for the mayoralty, which would 
soon be vacated by Hayne, and probably looked in the main for his 
support from the masses of the voters rather than from any persons 
of property. The Reverend Theophilus Fiske was to have been the 
orator of the occasion, and did indulge in some very remarkable 
utterances for one of the cloth ; but the meeting was not carried out 
as designed. What was styled the respectable portion of the 
community took charge, installed Mayor Hayne as chairman, 
hissed down the orators of the populace and made the meeting the 
opportunity for the declaration of their own sentiments. With 
regard to the action of Mr. Alfred Huger, in taking occasion to 
express his views most forcibly by word of mouth, in opposition to 

430 



MEETING TO DENOUNCE BANKS 43 1 

the callers, it is impossible not to sympathize, for he was meeting 
boldly in the open, face to face, some whom he probably had good 
reason to suspect guilty of breaking into the post-office, for the care 
of which he was responsible, two years previous. The attitude of 
Mr. Petigru, also, was in accord with his publicly announced views 
throughout his political life; but the fact that Fiske, no matter 
how incendiary his language, should have been struck at a meeting 
over which Robert Y. Hayne presided, was not to the credit of that 
distinguished South Carolinian. The fact that there had been 
objections urged against Hayne's taking the chair, and at first he 
had declined to do so, made it the more incumbent upon him to see 
that all entitled had a hearing. The declaration of the Reverend 
Theophilus Fiske, that if he assumed the chair there would be blood- 
shed, was just the argument best calculated to cause Hayne to 
assume it ; yet there is no denying that it is the duty of the chair- 
man to secure a hearing for the speakers, or yield his position to one 
who can. It may be that the chairman was not aware of the 
incident at the time of its occurrence, and, if the Reverend Fiske was 
threatening if the mayor of the city dared to preside at a meeting, 
there would be bloodshed, he is not entitled to much sympathy 
for being stricken ; but as all accounts in the press were published 
by papers out of all sympathy with Fiske and his friends, among 
whom was ex-Governor John Lyde Wilson, who criticised the 
mayor very sharply for the occurrence,^ alluded to also by Congress- 
man Waddy Thompson a little later as discreditable, we are forced 
to conclude that, upon this one occasion, Hayne failed to rise to that 
height of impartiality which was so habitual with him, and which 
was one of the most distinguishing marks of his high character. 
This same bank question was responsible for a difference of opinion, 
which now began to appear between Calhoun and his senatorial 
colleague, Preston, which from his comments at the opening of the 

* Courier, Aug. 2, 1837. 



432 ' ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

session seemed to him then quite natural. "I go against the 
chartering of a United States bank or any connection with Biddle's 
or any other bank. . . . My colleague, as I understand him, 
goes for Biddies' bank, and will probably take a portion of the 
Representatives with him. Like divisions will probably run 
throughout all the States, and I would not be surprised if an en- 
tirely new organization of parties should arise out of the present 
state of things." ^ But as the heat of the contest developed, and 
it appeared patent that every vote would tell, Calhoun, while ex- 
pecting to win, was somewhat intolerant of opposition to his view, 
and writes to his daughter at the end of September: "I regret that 
my colleague has not thought fit to go with me. I think both he and 
General Thompson have acted badly, but I leave it to them and 
their constituents." ^ But if Calhoun was now inclined to criticise 
Preston, he himself did not escape criticism. In a letter falling 
ten days after the first and thirteen prior to the second, of the 
above expressions of opinion James L. Petigru gives his idea 
of the situation from a view at Washington: "I shall hear Mr. 
Calhoun in the Senate. That gentleman has taken an extraor- 
dinary turn, and is going to make a speech to-morrow and it is 
given out in favor of the Message. All the members of our 
State will be against him except two, Mr. Pickens and Barnwell 
Smith, now called Rhett. Nothing can be more monstrous 
than to support a scheme for doing away with bank paper, and 
of course with credit, and ruining all who are in debt. It is awful, 
it is so sudden, and of Mr. Calhoun so unexpected. However, he is 
to be heard to-morrow, and we shall be better able to judge then 
what his scheme is, as well as how he defends himself; but at 
present it appears that there will be a fatal breach between him and 
his friends in Carolina." ^ In this conclusion the wish was evidently 

'"Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 377-378. 'Ibid., p. 380. 

* Petigru's unpublished correspondence, Sept. 17, 1837. 



MEETING TO DENOUNCE BANKS 433 

father to the thought, and in the letter which immediately follows, 
even more so: "I have just heard Mr. Calhoun on the divorce of 
Bank and State; but it is in reahty a divorce of Calhoun from his 
httle party and the first step to a union between him and the ad- 
ministration. He made a speech unequal to his reputation ; in fact, 
I think Barnwell Smith will make a better one on the same side." * 
In much of this, Petigru was wrong. The speech was strong 
enough to bring to the speaker, the State, in spite of the opposition 
of some of the most influential men in it. 

In considering the period of Hayne's administration of muni- 
cipal affairs, mention should be made of his attitude on, and 
opinion of, the condition of the free colored people and slaves oi 
that time. It is stated on the authority of an aged member and 
ex-President of the Brown Fellowship Society of Charleston,^ 
that in 1836, a law having been passed, permitting no more 
than seven negroes to meet together, Mr. Hayne sent for the 
record book of the Brown Fellowship Society, to which reference 
has been before made, and glancing over it, expressed his 
opinion that the law was not intended for such, and that their 
meetings would be permitted. Be that instance, reported on the 
strength of the memory of an aged man, correct in all particulars or 
not, in his valedictory report to Council, Mayor Hayne touched upon 
the condition of this class, as the following extract from the report 
printed by order of Council will show: "In reference to our 
Colored Population, it has been my unceasing effort to improve 
their condition, and at the same time to enforce an exact, though 
mild and wholesome, system of discipline. The City Ordinances 
give great power to the Mayor over this class of people, and it 
depends in some measure upon the sound discretion, steady 
firmness and enlightened humanity displayed by this officer in his 
dealings with them, whether they shall, like the Free Blacks of the 

' Ibid., Sept. 18, 1837. ^ Thomas McPherson Holmes, born Sept. 13, 1809. 

2F 



434 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

North, become vagabonds and outcasts, or be an orderly, industrious 
and contented class of productive laborers. No efforts have been 
spared on my part to break up their connection with the dram 
shops and gambling houses, which has hitherto been so destructive 
to their health and morals, and I am truly rejoiced to be able to say 
that, though much still remains to be done, a great deal has been 
accomplished in this respect. A few years more of steady exertion, 
sustained by public opinion, will rescue our slaves from the tempta- 
tions to which they have heretofore been exposed, and cut up by the 
roots the infamous practices to which they have so often fallen 
victims." Continuing, he proceeds to show that all attempts to 
enforce the laws against dram-shop keepers, gamblers and other 
offenders, must prove abortive as long as the suburbs are excluded 
by the city's boundary from the operation of the ordinances, and 
earnestly recommends the union as essential to the welfare of 
both city and suburbs.^ But before passing from this point, it 
might be well to submit some evidence as to what was the condition 
of some of the free colored people of Charleston at this time; 
and reference being had to the very book consulted by Mayor 
Hayne, the following appears: "Mr. Marchant, Chairman 
school committee, stated to the President & members that some 
necessary examinations being required of the children by the com- 
mittee, he had to defer a report to the next meeting. Mr. B. T. 
Huger moved that the school committee be authorized to put two 
of Mr. Gordon's and two of Mrs. Bampfield's children to school as 
soon as practical, seconded by R. E. DeReef and carried." ^ 

Having brought his one-year term of the mayoralty to a conclu- 
sion, with a total expenditure of $284,146.69 and a balance in hand 

' Extract from Report of Robert Y. Hayne, Mayor, dated Sept. i, 1837. Printed 
by order of City Council of Charleston, original in possession of Professor Yates 
Snowden of Columbia, South Carolina. 

^ Minutes of "Brown Fellowship Society," July 7, 1836, in possession of J. H. 
Holloway of Charleston, South Carolina. 



MEETING TO DENOUNCE BANKS 435 

of $7,443.91/ in spite of many improvements, leaving the office to 
be contended for by Pinckney and Lynah, Hayne, with his usual 
energy, and with the assistance of the railroad only to Orangeburg 
County, on his way to Flat Rock, North Carolina, to attend the 
annual meeting of the Western Railroad Company, visited, in 
addition to Orangeburg, the districts of Richland, Fairfield, 
Chester, Marion, Spartanburg and Greenville, and from North 
Carolina wrote Ker Boyce and Hamilton to put them in possession 
of all the latest information, received, just in time to answer, a four- 
column communication appearing in the Courier in criticism of 
the French Broad route and laudatory of the Georgia connection, 
published above the signature of James Gadsden, in which every 
argument presented by Calhoun in his private and public letters on 
the subject reappears.^ 

What were the purposes of this inscrutable man ? 

The political condition was peculiar. On the face of affairs, 
President Van Buren led one party, to which Calhoun was now 
lending his support, for doing which H. L. Pinckney had been 
thrown out of Congress the year previous, and for lack of which 
his successor would be soon forced out. On the other side stood 
Clay, obtaining no too cordial support from Webster and a party 
torn by the Abolitionists into two factions. These seemed to be the 
leaders; but down below the surface, two former friends were 
directing the real forces, and with a patient yet fervid zeal warring 
against each other. The real leaders of the opposing policies of the 
country were not Van Buren and Clay, but John Quincy Adams 
and John C. Calhoun. The latter has given his view of conditions 
as he saw them at this time, and considered in connection with the 
view of Adams, of about the same time, a powerful light is thrown 
upon the situation. Writing in February of this year to Hammond, 
Calhoun says: "We have for the last 12 years been going through 

* Courier, Sept. i, 1837. * Ibid., Sept. 30, 1837. 



436 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

a great and dangerous juncture. The passage is almost made 
and, if no new cause of difficulty should intervene, it will be suc- 
cessfully made. I at present see none but the abolition question, 
which, however, I fear is destined to shake the country to its centre. 
It has made great progress since you left us. . . . For the first 
time the bold ground has been taken that slaves have a right to 
petition Congress; and what is wonderful, a vote of the House of 
Representatives has, by a strong implication, sustained the ground 
which has neither been rescinded nor superseded, and we are about 
to adjourn, leaving this question, which involves directly the right 
to emancipate, in this uncertain condition, or rather, to express 
myself more strongly and at the same time more truly, the act of 
emancipation; for the right to petition Congress is itself emanci- 
pation. . . . Our fate as a people is bound up in the question. If 
we yield, we will be extirpated ; but if we successfully resist, we will 
be the greatest and most flourishing people of modern time. It is 
the best substratum of population in the world, and one on which 
great and flourishing Commonwealths may be most easily and 
safely reared." ^ 

The beginning of this twelve years had marked the parting 
between Calhoun and Adams, which Adams's elevation to the 
Presidency brought about. Prior to that, the relation between 
them had been as cordial as it was possible for two such icy 
natures to warm to. Adams's tentative inquiries of his friend 
Calhoun, some six or seven years earlier still, had brought out the 
prompt announcement that any attempt to interfere with slavery 
would bring about the creation of two nations with armed forces 
patrolling the frontiers. While sighing for an individual to " arise 
with a genius capable" of performing "the duties of an angel upon 
earth" with regard to the abolition of slavery, Adams had turned 
to a more practical but hardly as angelic a process of "extirpation 

■* "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 368. 



MEETING TO DENOUNCE BANKS 437 

of the African race by the gradually bleaching out process of inter- 
mixture where the white portion is already predominant." The 
action of his own State, Massachusetts, as indicated by the report of 
her Legislature, in 182 1, concerning the undesirable and injurious 
colored population, had for a while chilled his zeal, while great 
official station and responsibility and close intimacy with Clay had 
checked the growth of ideas on this subject. When, however, 
in 1833, Clay had made his remarkable about face on the tariff, 
Adams, in parting company with him, made ominous allusion to 
slavery in his powerful speech against the compromise. Yet even 
in 1836 he was prepared to declare that Congress had no right 
to interfere with slavery in the District of Columbia, and it was 
Calhoun's opposition to the right of petition that drove him forward 
so fast that in 1837 he asserted that " the mass of people preferred 
separation to the annexation of Texas." * This, then, was his view 
at that time. Better the dissolution than any strengthening or 
extending of slavery. A view certainly easy of comprehension, 
although historians are accustomed to ignore it. Calhoun's 
view was not as easy to understand, and was not understood by his 
most intimate friends or any of his biographers. Two extraor- 
dinary letters from him to Duff Green disclose the utter inability 
of this most intimate friend to divine his chief's plans. Green 
wished his patron to be either for Van Buren or against him, and if 
against him, then with Clay or Webster and, upon Calhoun's 
demurring, on the ground that the abolitionist and anti-abolitionist, 
the consolidationist and anti-consolidationist could not act together, 
he intimated that it was personal ambition leading Calhoun to 
aim constantly at the Presidency and constantly to be defeated. 
To this Calhoun replied with great dignity and firmness: "I am 
not of the same party with Webster and others, and do not intend to 
go into any move that may be controlled by abolitionists, consolida- 

^ Courier, Sept. 18, 1837. 



438 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

tionists, colonizationists. I speak as an individual. If my friends 
think differently, I shall not complain, but shall regard it as a 
signal that they are tired of being in a hopeless minority and that 
it is time for me to step off the stage." * To James Edward 
Calhoun, in the letter to which reference has been before made, 
of date September 7, 1837, he expresses the belief that Van Buren 
through "terror of Jackson," has been forced to so act as to afford 
an opportunity to break " the control which the North, through the 
use of Government credit, acting through the banks, have exercised 
over our industry and commerce." ^ This, all along the lines of 
high statesmanship, does not prevent some pulhng of wires. "In 
the meantime, it is of vast importance that the meeting in Augusta 
should be fully attended. . . . Abbeville must send her delegates. 
You and McDufhe ought to be two of them. Let a meeting be 
called. ... It is of little importance whether it be fully attended 
or not." Again, in October, he writes that while he could not get 
to the railroad meeting at Flat Rock, he understands that the 
French Broad route has been abandoned, that the intention is to 
purchase the Hamburg road, unite with the Augusta and Athens 
to extend their road to meet the Georgia main track from the Suck 
to the Chattahoochee. "They now take the very route," he says, 
"which I recommended three years since and which I could not 
get a single man in Charleston to join me." ^ Calhoun seems in 
this to be perfectly oblivious of the fact that, whatever he may 
have " recommended three years since," he had, within a year, to the 
same correspondent, asserted his belief in " the vast superiority of 
the route by the Carolina gap" ; while with regard to the Georgia 
route he had learned that the engineers "ordered to survey the 
route down the Tennessee and thence across to Athens and Macon 
from the Suck had found the route between the Lookout and 
Alleghany mountains impracticable which must tend to throw 
* " Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 376. ' Ibid., p. 377. ' Ibid., p. 381. 



MEETING TO DENOUNCE BANKS 439 

the Athens and Augusta interest with us." The demonstrated im- 
practicability of this latest discovery of his, the Tuckaseege route, 
had, so far from settling the question between the French Broad and 
the Tuckaseege route, as he had claimed to Patrick Noble it would, 
prior to the survey, so thoroughly that "even the selfish would be 
ashamed to object," had simply driven him back to the abandoned 
Georgia route, in opposition to the French Broad. While now 
rejoicing at what he believed to be the case, he does not forget the 
question which will arise in the Legislature concerning his position 
on the divorce of bank and State, and urges his relative " to secure 
the members of the Legislature . . . influential individuals and 
McDuffie in particular. ... He was perfectly sound when I saw 
him at my house . . . and I hope is still so, but he is liable to be 
acted upon by men inferior to himself; and I must request you to see 
him as early as convenient, to confirm him in the faith, if sound, and 
if not, to bring him right." ^ While the briUiant Petigru was, 
therefore, prophesying Calhoun's divorce from his friends, the 
latter was grappling them to himself, if not with hoops of steel, 
at least with the best appliances he could utilize. From all this 
it may be inferred that Calhoun's plan was to make the South 
commercially independent of the North, and to closely connect 
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas 
together by rail, thus uniting South Carolina with Texas, which 
would practically force into the closest intercourse with the com- 
bination Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. The slave-holding 
States would then be strong enough to hold their own in the Union 
or out of it. He was not striving to take them out. He was for the 
Union, but for a Union in which the South might be commercially 
independent of the North, — too strong to be interfered with, and with 
" a substratum of population," " the best in the world." The plan 
was undeniably the great plan of a great man, and had it not been 

1 Ibid., p. 382. 



440 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

for the boundless egotism of the great projector, might have pro- 
duced even greater results than those which flowed from it; but 
Calhoun never seemed able to realize that men less great might 
possess greater ability to work out details. 

Between these two policies of Adams and Calhoun, abso- 
lutely opposed to each other and tending to tear apart the 
Union, admitted by Adams, if not by Calhoun, stood Hayne with 
his plan, so grandly simple as to be despised by politicians 
of the day and which has not yet, and may not for a while yet, 
be appreciated in all its immense force. Hayne's poUcy was to 
knit the South and West together by the indissoluble tie of com- 
mon business interests. Whether he still believed that from 
the intermingling of slave and free labor, as he had asserted in 
the Senate, in 1827, slave labor must become unproductive and 
gradually pass away, or whether, from intercourse between the 
sections, less opposition to it would arise, cannot be positively 
stated, in the absence of any declaration from him at this time, as 
full as that made twelve years prior to his death, to which allusion 
has been directed ; but that he was directing his efforts to the only 
mode by the which Union could be preserved and the industrial 
interests of the South, meanwhile, be prevented from languishing, 
while the question was in the process of solution, a careful study 
of his plans, as imperfectly as they must be presented in the loss of 
the bulk of his correspondence, reveals. Some echoes of Calhoun's 
declaration concerning the abandonment of the French Broad 
route must have reached Hayne on the eve of his departure for 
Nashville, to obtain the consent of Tennessee to the amended 
charter, containing the concession of banking privileges; and to 
meet those ill-advised and mischievous statements, directly in 
opposition to the action of the Board of Directors, for the second 
or third time, he issued a positive, official denial. 



I 



CHAPTER VI 

HAYNE'S argument in behalf of the FRENCH BROAD ROUTE. 
HIS RECEPTION IN TENNESSEE AND HIS LAST MEETING WITH 
JACKSON. SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE SUPPORTS CAL- 
HOUN'S ATTITUDE ON DIVORCE OF BANK AND STATE, BUT 
LENDS CREDIT OF STATE TO ROAD, ON HAYNE'S APPEAL 

Even with the return to the Ohio subscribers of the $30,200 in 
consequence of the fixing the terminus at Lexington, Kentucky, 
instead of Cincinnati, as originally designed, by the subscriptions 
of the State of South Carolina, the total was raised to $5,280,000, 
$263,423.35 paid in, of which $64,557.79 had been expended, an 
amount about double what the survey alone of the Hamburg 
Railroad had cost, over a fiat, easy country, one-fourth the distance, 
and marked by the hospitable mansions of wealthy planters. From 
the preliminary surveys of Colonel Gadsden in 1835, to the demon- 
stration of the utter impracticability of the Tuckaseege route in the 
beginning of 1837, all examinations tended to show the superior 
merits of the French Broad route. It was the route which almost 
all had united upon, and without which, Calhoun admitted later, 
he doubted whether the support of the people of South Carolina 
could have been obtained, not to speak of North Carolina and 
Tennessee; yet here was Calhoun, a director, who had not attended 
the meeting, asserting that it had been abandoned. For the 
president of the company there was nothing left to be done than to 
disclose, to some extent, the plans of the company, which it would 
have been better to have for a while kept quiet. Over his signature, 

441 



442 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



ft 



as president, therefore, Hayne published the following : " In conse- 
quence of the extensive circulation of a report that it is the intention 
of the company to abandon the route through the State and to 
substitute a route through Georgia, we have been requested to 
publish ... the views of the Stockholders, as indicated by 
the late proceedings at Flat Rock. . . . The measures which y 
it is proposed at this time to pursue may be classed under the 
following heads, viz. : — 

" ist : The purchase of the Charleston Railroad and pushing our 
connections through that road into Georgia, Alabama and the 
whole of the Southwest. 

" 2d : The extension of a branch from Branchville, or some other 
convenient point to Columbia and from thence, as far as our means 
may permit by the best route (whichever that may prove to be), 
through the centre of the State toward the mountams, 

"3d: An application to the Legislatures of Tennessee and 
Kentucky through the President (who had been appointed by the 
Stockholders a commissioner to those States) for their concurrence 
in the act granting Banking privileges; and also for pecuniary 
aid, with a pledge that any amount which may be contributed by 
those States shall be applied to the construction of the road within 
their respective limits. 

" It will be seen from these statements that no idea exists at this 
time either of abandoning the enterprise or changing the direction n 
of the road; nor is it believed that a single vote could have been 
obtained in the Convention for either of these propositions. In 
relation to the Georgia route, concerning which much has of late 
been written and published, the present views of the company, as 
far as I understand them are, that a route through Georgia could 
not be substituted for one through the centre of South Carolina 
without producing the following results, viz. : — 

" ist : The immediate forfeiture of our charters, both for the 



i 



HIS RECEPTION IN TENNESSEE 443 

Road and the Bank, and the consequent dissolution of the company. 
Our charters have been granted by the States of North and South 
Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, and not by Georgia, and they 
do not embrace a road passing through that State, but through the 
other States above mentioned. 

" 2d : But if this were not so, the adoption of a route through 
Georgia, in place of that proposed across our own State, would 
immediately alienate from us North Carolina, Tennessee and 
Kentucky; and we should be regarded as ha\ing deserted them 
on selfish considerations, after making a solemn compact for the 
execution of a joint enterprise for common objects equally benefi- 
cial to all. 

" 3d : There is every reason to apprehend that a large majority 
of the people of our own State would be alienated from the enter- 
prise, should the present plan be abandoned and a route through 
Georgia be substituted in its place, and that the State itself would 
withdraw the subscription of a million dollars, if it was not to be 
applied to making a road withm our own limits. To whatever 
extent our Road may be carried, it is mdispensable, if we mean 
to secure the support either of the Legislature or the great body of 
the people of South Carolina, that the route through the centre of 
the State should not be abandoned. In conjunction with such a 
route they may consent to the purchase of the Charleston and 
Hamburg Road, thus enabling us to push our connections through 
that Road into Georgia, Alabama and the Southwest; but they 
will never consent that the resources of the State shall be applied to 
a road running on the Southern border of the State to Augusta, and 
at that point leaving our State entirely. The people of two or 
three Districts might be content with this; but what would the 
people of the other portions of the State say or do with regard to 
such a proposition ? A road carried through Columbia and from 
thence by the best route, whichever that may prove to be, to the 



444 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

mountains, will interest the whole State and, running nearly through 
the centre, will be within striking distances to the people of every 
part of the State, who may connect themselves with it by short 
branches or good turnpike roads. A road on the southern 
boundary could not possess these advantages. 

" Our true policy, therefore, would seem to be this : To avail 
ourselves of all the advantages to be obtained from the possession 
of the Charleston Rail Road and, at the same time, to extend a hand 
from that road to Columbia as the first step. On the Georgia 
route one link in the great chain has already been made. The 
Athens Rail Road, with whom it is clearly our duty to cultivate the 
most friendly relations, will meet us at Augusta, from whence they 
will construct a road extending to Alabama and Tennessee. All 
the advantages to be derived from these connections will, therefore, 
be secured to us through the Charleston and Hamburg Road, which 
is already made to our hands. But why stop here? Can any one 
doubt the immense advantages that must grow out of the exten- 
sion of a branch to Columbia and from thence as far as our means 
may permit towards the mountains and beyond them even as far 
as Lexington ? It may be said that Tennessee, North Carolina and 
Kentucky will not aid us in the enterprise. If so, then our road, of 
course, will not be extended beyond the limits of our own State. 
But we must wait for their decision on the applications now to be 
made before we can come to such a conclusion. At all events, let 
us not abandon them, under the apprehension that they may 
abandon us. Our true policy under the existing circumstances 
seems to be very obvious. It is to secure Banking Privileges to the 
Company, to be used hereafter, when credit shall be restored, to 
obtain aid from the Western States, if practicable, and if not, to 
ascertain their views with regard to the execution of the original 
project; to obtain the Charleston Railroad and make arrange- 
ments for extending a track to Columbia. These are the measures 



HIS RECEPTION IN TENNESSEE 445 

recommended by the stockholders at their last meeting, and in 
which it is hoped all will cordially concur. Nothmg I am aware is 
easier than to excite distrust, while confidence is not only a plant 
of slow growth but it may be blighted almost with a breath. It is 
our determination, however, to go steadily forward with the work 
committed to our hands, in full reliance that we shall be sustained 
by the stockholders and Country. Should we be disappointed in 
this, and a failure shall be the consequence, the fault will not be 
ours. 

" Robert Y. Hayne, President." * 

Without possibly knowing it, Hayne was now meeting Calhoun's 
arguments, and meeting them in support of the original scheme, 
which he proved conclusively must fail, if the vast majority yielded 
to the trifling minority with which this one director seemed to be 
in touch. While he was away in Tennessee, the issue on which 
the Congressional delegation from South Carolina had divided was 
being thrashed out in the Legislature of that State, and with su- 
perb confidence Calhoun awaited the result. That Hamilton, who 
had led South Carolina up to nullification, under his guidance, 
should be against him, did not give him the least anxiety. That 
the brilliant Preston, who had been his mouth-piece during 
that stormy epoch, was also now arrayed in opposition, disturbed 
him not at all. But when, like a flash from the past, a publication 
in opposition to his views appeared over the signature of Langdon 
Cheves, some uneasiness was felt by the one paper among the 
members of the daily press of the State which gave him support. 
The Mercury was disturbed by Cheves's argument,^ but recovered 
confidence quickly, and then, last of all, the name and fame of the 
dead Lowndes was invoked ^ against the policy of his quondam 

* Mercury, Nov. 10, 1837. ^ Ihid., Nov. 16, 1837. 

^ Ihid., Nov. 16, 1837. 






446 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

friend, Calhoun. Time had, however, at last destroyed the power 
of that name, and a new generation had been coming forward, 
to whom it was but an echo of the past. But if many who had 
been for him in the past were now against Calhoun, not a few 
who had been against him were now for him. Albert Rhett 
led the fight for divorce of bank and State, and with him were 
Memminger and Davie. 

Petigru and Yeadon in the House, and Hamilton in the Senate, 
stood in opposition. The resolutions introduced were as follows : — 

"Resolved: That in the opinion of the Legislature it is expedient 
that the revenue of the Federal Government be scJ collected 
as ultimately to sever the Government from all connection 
with the banks : 

" That in the opinion of the Legislature the revenue of the 
Federal Government should be so deposited, kept and dis- 
bursed as not to be connected with or used in banking opera- 
tions : 

" That it would be unconstitutional, inexpedient and dan- 
gerous to incorporate a National Bank to manage the fiscal 
operations of the Federal Government." ^ 

Petigru soon realized how mistaken was his estimate. Under 
date of December 20 he mournfully writes: "I have been here 
almost three weeks, and tired I am of it. My position is that of a 
person in a dead minority. Everything has gone for the new 
scheme that Mr. Calhoun patronizes. I say everything, not 
everybody; for Preston, Hamilton, Hayne, Legare and I are 
somebody, I think, not to mention other names as well entitled 
to be considered ; and they say McDuffie is very sullen, although 
he concurs with his old leader." ^ 

' Mercury, Dec. 7, 1837. 

* Unpublished correspondence of J. L. Petigru in possession of J. P. Carson, Esq. 



HIS RECEPTION IN TENNESSEE 447 

Petigru seems to have done his utmost, and we could well 
spare some of the tremendously solid speeches with which the 
old papers abound for this supreme effort of his. We are only 
told, however, that "he uttered a hundred exquisite sarcasms, 
told one capital story and ended by moving to lay the resolutions 
on the table." ^ "It was not to be expected," says the Mercury, 
in reference to his more serious speech on the following day, 
"that even Mr. Petigru should put forth anything positively new 
on a subject that has been so long and so sorely tasked by the 
intellects of the greatest nations." Memminger replied to Petigru 
effectively, and in the House Calhoun was vindicated. 

Meanwhile, at Nashville, Hayne had been winnmg golden 
opinions. A joint resolution of the General Assembly of Ten- 
nessee called on him for a copy of his speech before the 
two houses, with regard to the railroad, and also that delivered 
at the public dinner given him where "the citizens of Nashville 
attended, without distuiction of party." ^ At this dinner all vol- 
unteer toasts were excluded, and but one regular toast given: 
"The State of South Carolina and the distinguished part she bore 
in the American Revolutionary Contest : No State among the ever 
memorable and revered thirteen was animated with a purer and 
more ardent patriotism; or incurred greater sacrifices in the com- 
nion cause; or suffered more public and private calamities; or 
exhibited more illustrious instances of heroism and devoted ability ; 
or evinced a more determined opposition to British misrule; or 
achieved for herself greater glory. Our distinguished guest, A 
worthy son of such a State." Of Hayne's response, the Nashville 
Banner said: "To say that this admirable speech was character- 
ized throughout by the most concise and convincing arguments, 
interesting statistical facts and enlightened views, delivered in the 
polished style of the distinguished speaker, is but to speak the 

1 Mercury, Dec. 11, 1837. ' Ibid., Dec. 8, 1837. 



448 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

general sentiment which pervaded the large and intelligent au- 
dience present on this occasion. . . . The subject of banks and 
currency was handled with much ability, and the views of the 
speaker on this branch of his argument displayed an intimacy 
with the history and operation of trade and commerce in every 
respect creditable to his high reputation. Without entering into 
the exciting topics of Federal politics, he pointed out with the 
clearness of noon-day the utter impossibility and impracticability 
of a hard money currency among a commercial people and the 
consequent necessity of a paper representative of value. ... He 
declared that the Road was not a political move; but, on the con- 
trary, brought the prominent men of both parties in his own State 
into close and brotherly intimacy for the common good of the South 
and West." ^ The speech carried the Tennessee Legislature for 
the measures advocated by the speaker, and the three States of 
North and South Carolina and Tennessee were now united on the 
amended charter, and for granting the banking privileges; while 
Kentucky was for the amended charter, but had not yet granted 
the banking privileges. 

It was about this time that Hayne had his last meeting with 
Jackson. Colonel Arthur Hayne, Jackson's Adjutant and In- 
spector General, and one of his most intimate friends, has left an 
account of the meeting between the two. He says: "General 
Jackson being informed of General Hayne's arrival at Nash\ille, 
directed his private secretary. Major A. J. Donaldson, to wait 
on him with his kind regards, requesting him, before he left the 
State, to do him the favor to pass a day with him at the Hermitage. 
The invitation was accepted and, as soon as he had finished the 
public business, he rode out to the Hermitage and remained with 
Jackson during the day. He found his host very feeble and much 
changed in appearance, but his mind was strong and vigorous, 

* Nashville Banner, Nov. 24, 1837, quoted by Mercury, Dec. 12, 1837. 



A 



HIS RECEPTION IN TENNESSEE 449 

his memory good, his manner calm, courteous, gifted, as when he 
first became acquainted with him, in 1820, at the same place. 
The day passed pleasantly ... the parting hour had arrived, and 
not one word had been uttered in relation to their former antago- 
nistic positions. My brother, standing before the General, seized 
his hand and said: 'General, it is more than probable we shall 
never meet again in this world, and as we are about to part, I will 
say to you with perfect frankness and sincerity that if, in the dis- 
charge of official duties, circumstances have occurred, and many 
such we know have occurred, to shake our friendship, on my part, 
they are now and ever will be forgotten.' General Jackson rose 
from his seat, hardly able to stand, and taking the hand of his 
guest said, in reply : ' Governor Hayne, the kind, frank and noble 
sentiments you have just given utterance to are those I truly feel, 
and from the bottom of my heart I sincerely reciprocate all you 
say. And now, my dear sir, I rejoice that our mutual friendship 
is restored, and that we stand together as of old. The purity of 
your character — the virtues which adorn your spotless life as a 
pubHc man and in the social and domestic circle — won my friend- 
ship in our first interview in 1820 at this place. I say it now, and 
I say it with pleasure and in sincerity, that in that great record of 
your country, which belongs to history, your name will stand con- 
spicuous on the roll of her illustrious sons, as an able jurist, an 
elegant orator, a wise counsellor, a sagacious and honest states- 
man." ^ 

In a manuscript note added later than 1859 to the above. Colonel 
Hayne adds: "Jackson did more to produce the Compromise 
Act than any one, and his friendship for my brother had a great 
deal to do with it." Jackson forgave Hayne's severe strictures 
upon him, in all probability, because he appreciated the chivalric 
behavior of Hayne in making no allusion during the nullification 

* O'Neall, "Bench & Bar," Copy Charleston Library Society, p. 33. 

3G 



450 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

controversy, to the note which others unhesitatingly asserted Jack- 
son had sent him in approval of his speech in reply to Webster 
in defence of State Rights. 

Hurrying back to South Carolina, Hayne reached the State 
just about the time of the conclusion of the contest in the Legis- 
lature over the resolutions regarding divorce of bank and State 
where, despite the efforts of Petigru in the House and Hamilton in 
the Senate, the position of Calhoun was sustained by majorities 
far beyond even his anticipations of what would be triumphant, 
the first resolution being carried in the House by a vote of 103 to 
14; the second by 112 to 2; and the third by 97 to 16. In the 
Senate, the vote was, on the first, 38 to i ; on the second, 36 to 3 ; 
on the third, 32 to 5.* Yet while Hayne' s views were in accord 
with the minority, a resolution to invite the Senate to hear General 
R. Y. Hayne at the bar of the House in favor of the bill to lend the 
credit of the State to the L. C. and C. Railroad, passed unanimously, 
and of his speech the Mercury said: "General Hayne then de- 
livered a speech of some length, the excellence of which is best 
judged by its effect. General Hayne converted a decided hostility 
to the measure into an enthusiasm in its favor." ^ The comment 
of the Courier was: "Never was the distinguished orator more 
triumphant or more persuasive in eloquence." ^ 

^ Mercury, Dec. 14, 16, 1837. ' Ibid., Dec. 19, 1837. 

* Courier, Dec. 18, 1837. 



CHAPTER VII 

R. BARNWELL RHETX's REMARKABLE RESOLUTION CONCERNING 
ABOLITION. CALHOUN NOT READY FOR IT. HAYNE'S WON- 
DERFULLY CLEAR APPRECIATION OF SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL 
CONDITIONS 

From the very beginning of the year 1838, public attention was 
directed toward the question of slavery. Calhoun's resolutions 
concerning petitions for abolition were under debate, and to his 
denial of the right he attached great importance. In framing 
them, however, he seems to have been unable to resist the occasion 
presented for incorporating his own special views as to the for- 
mation of the Union, which undoubtedly were calculated to repel 
some support. If he had lost the support of Pinckney and of Legare, 
who had succeeded Pinckney in the House, as well as Thompson 
and Campbell ; if his colleague, Senator Preston, was opposed to 
his financial views, and with regard to his resolutions concerning 
the right of petition gave him but a doubtful support ; if at home 
Hamilton was in open and unreserved opposition to his financial 
view; yet in R. Barnwell Rhett there was one, becoming more 
and more prominent in the State, who supported his financial 
views in Congress and in the State and went a step beyond him 
concerning slavery. 

Rhett's action in Congress took Calhoun by surprise, and yet 
from the standpoint of those who thought and spoke as both 
Calhoun and Rhett did, it was thoroughly reasonable. Both 
men claimed that the Constitution of the United States recognized 

451 



452 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

slavery, as it certainly did; yet, if, in the Federal jurisdiction, 
it could be attacked, that instrument failed to protect it. There- 
fore, when the abolitionist Slade moved to report a bill to abolish 
slavery in the District of Columbia, Rhett's amendment went 
straight to the root of the matter. It was — "and the Consti- 
tution of the United States having proved inadequate to protect 
the Southern States in the peaceable enjoyment of their rights 
and property, it is expedient that the said Constitution be amended 
or the Union be dissolved: Resolved that a committee of two 
members from each State in the Union be appointed to report 
upon the expediency and practicability of amending the Consti- 
tution or the best mode of dissolving the Union." ^ The temperate 
wording of this resolution was in marked contrast to the wordy 
vituperation of Wise; but it also brought Calhoun suddenly face 
to face with that which he had alluded to as approaching. What- 
ever may be said of it, yet it was a dignified, statesmanlike manner 
of approaching a grave and imposing subject, and, if Calhoun was 
not ready for it, no blame could be reasonably imputed to Rhett; 
for Calhoun had declared very nearly five years previously that 
either the Force Bill or the political connection must yield; and 
the Force Bill had not been repealed. Calhoun was not, however, 
ready to proceed to extremities. His grandiose declaration of 
1833 was the result of the mental intoxication produced by the 
incense burned before him for successful nullification; and it 
is doubtful if he weighed his words as carefully as he should have 
done upon that occasion. Certain it is that his reply to his 
daughter, who apparently was extremely impressed with Rhett's 
view, and who was closer to Calhoun's heart than any living 
creature, is by no means a strong or convincing argument. When 
he admitted that "We cannot and ought not to live together 
as we are at present," it was no answer to her claim ( that it was 

* Courier, Jan. 30, 1838. 



RHETT'S RESOLUTION CONCERNING ABOLITION 453 

" better to part peaceably than to live in the state of indecision we 
do,") to speak of the "difficulty" of separation/ His hesitation did 
credit to his genuine love of the Union; but when we remember his 
unreserved declaration regarding the repeal of the Force 
Bill, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that there was another 
cause of hesitation, although Calhoun was probably unaware of 
it himself. He was, constitutionally, unable to follow; he must 
always lead. In addition to all other considerations, we may 
fairly conclude that to this strange man there was "a rapture in 
the strife of factions that a woman's soul cannot conceive of." 
His letters, immediately following, indicate his lively personal 
interest in the struggle: "Mr. Clay is very impudent, and I expect 
to have a round with him. ..." And again: "Mr. Clay made 
a very long reply, but in the main very feeble and personal. I 
intend to give him as good as he sent, and so informed him 
on the conclusion of his speech." ^ While these "rounds" were 
being fought out in the Senate, and the entire country so shocked 
by the barbarity of the Graves-Cilley duel, that even John Lyde 
Wilson produced his "code duello," as he said, in protest; while 
the two sections were straining apart; Hayne was patiently, 
steadily and patriotically striving with the work by which he 
believed the Union alone could be preserved. Ably seconded 
by C. G. Memminger for a time, and by James Hamilton and 
Mitchell King to the bitter end, yet in the main, the burden lay 
upon him. He had weathered the panic of 1837, amended the 
charter and increased the subscriptions. To secure additional 
aid from the State and reconcile the aggressive minority contin- 
ually crying out for the Georgia connection, he had purchased 
the Charleston and Hamburg Road; but under the continual 
agitation, it was a trade with the knife at the throat of one of 
the parties to it. There were strong arguments in favor of the 

* "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 391. ^ Ibid., pp. 392-393' 



454 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

purchase itself, nevertheless. Doubtless the material could be 
handled for pushing on the work more expeditiously and cheaply, 
and the increasing volume of business of a lengthening railroad 
might help in its extension; but the road had run down, was not 
entirely free from debt and was purchased at a premium and upon 
terms which, if the stockholders gave trouble about paying up 
in instalments upon the stock as called for, must create almost 
insurmountable difficulties for the management; yet, as they had 
subscribed, it was hardly unreasonable to assume they meant to 
pay when called upon to do so. Hayne, however, felt it incum- 
bent upon him to place fairly before the people of the city of 
Charleston and of the State of South Carolina their vital interest 
in the enterprise. Addressing himself first to the citizens of 
Charleston, he expressed his solemn conviction that upon their 
conduct depended the destinies of the city. "Communities like 
individuals," he said, "are (under the blessings of Heaven) often 
the architects of their own fortunes, and to a certain extent may 
be said to control events. Charleston now stands in the front 
rank among the cities of the South. With an admirable harbor, 
a healthful climate, a larger population and a greater capital 
than any city on the South Altantic Coast, we have already ob- 
tained a start in the great race which will insure us the victory, 
if we are only true to ourselves and resolve to improve our advan- 
tages. But let us not be deluded with the vain fancy that success 
can be secured without any effort. The truth is that the trade 
of the West is at this moment the great object to which the earnest 
attention of the whole country is directed." 

Showing that the Georgia State road was intended to form a 
continuous line from Savannah through Macon to the Tennessee 
River, under State patronage and with a bank already in operation ; 
and Virginia, too, moving, he urged that South Carolina stood in 
danger of being "cut off forever from her fair share of the com- 



i 



RHETT'S RESOLUTION CONCERNING ABOLITION 455 

merce of the West." He claimed that the people of Tennessee 
preferred at that time a connection with Charleston to that with 
any city to the north or south of her. Knoxville, he claimed, 
was nearer to Charleston than Richmond by fifty miles, and one 
hundred miles closer than she was to Savannah by the Georgia 
State road. The valley of the French Broad, he claimed, afforded 
a far better route by which to connect Knoxville with the ocean ; 
but he impressed it upon his readers " if, after all that we have 
said and done, we should falter in our course or abandon the enter- 
prise, our sister cities will very soon establish those connections, 
by which our doom will be sealed, and we shall deserve our fate." 1 
After pressing argument upon argument on his readers with 
such force that we find them caught up and utilized by his rivals 
in Virginia to supply their own deficiency in the power of appeal, 
he closed with the announcement that the fate of the road was 
in their hands, and it was for them to determine whether the roll 
of subscribers should "remain a proud memorial of their wisdom 
and patriotism, or a miserable record of fluctuating feelings and 
changeful purpose — a monument of our glory or our shame." ^ 
In support of the appeal, the Courier published a strong editorial, 
in which a proper appreciation appeared of the " able, patriotic 
and indefatigable president," to whose untiring efforts it declared 
the existence of the road was due. As earnest and impassioned, 
as persuasive and moving, as had been Hayne's appeal to the 
citizens of Charleston, it falls far below his effort to rouse the 
State, in which he exhibits a grasp of public affairs and a states- 
manlike comprehension of existing facts and conditions, which 
time has so far verified, as to place him beyond any man of his 
day in his clear perception of. Attention has been directed to 
the fact that Hayne was launched upon his public career without 
the culture and training with which many of his contemporaries 

1 Courier, March 13, 1838. ' Ibid., March 13, 1838. 



■TJI 



456 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

were blessed, but that one of his most remarkable qualities was 
his ability to gather information and instruction from almost 
every situation and every struggle. In his last fight against the 
tariff in the Senate it has been suggested that the speech of 
Ewing of Ohio was a more forcible reply to Hayne's argument 
than that of the great Kentuckian, who loomed so large in the 
public eye. In Hayne's appeal to the State of South Carolina we 
realize that Hayne had pondered these arguments of Ewing, and 
had become convinced that something beside the tariff was 
responsible for the lagging progress of his State : " South Carolina," 
he says, " as a small state, rich in her great staples and commercial 
facilities, yet deprived of her natural advantages by the wasteful 
cultivation of her soil and the state of almost 'colonial vassalage' 
to which her trade has been reduced, is now brought to a condition 
which calls for prompt and decisive measures to remove existing 
evils and to avert the still greater calamities with which she is 
threatened. It is impossible to shut our eyes to the truth or exclude 
from our minds the conviction that South Carolina is destined 
to sink down from her high and palmy state of prosperity, honor 
and renown which she has so long and so proudly occupied, unless 
her sons shall avail themselves of the present favorable oppor- 
tunity to retrieve her falling fortunes. The superior fertility of 
the virgin soils of the new and flourishing states of the South West 
holds out a temptation to emigration which nothing can counter- 
act but the opening of fresh avenues to trade and new and more 
profitable employment of labor and capital. We have no unoc- 
cupied territory to which our planters can repair from their ex- 
hausted fields to renovate their fortunes. The slow process of 
restoring our worn-out soils will not be resorted to whilst on our 
own borders are found immense and fertile regions, so lately 
acquired from the Indians in Georgia and Alabama. What, 
then, is left for us ? We must diversify the pursuits of our people. 



RHETT'S RESOLUTION CONCERNING ABOLITION 457 

The opening of a communication with the West and the estab- 
lishment of a Direct Trade with Europe are the only means, under 
Heaven, by which this great object can be effected. Much has 
been said as to the necessity of establishing a system of direct 
importation, and it has been well asked why the South, which 
raises the cotton and rice which is actually exchanged for the 
European products by which the wants of so large a proportion 
of the Union are supplied, should not be able to effect these ex- 
changes through her own sea-ports, by her own merchants and 
in her own ships? Ask these merchants, and they will tell you 
that, though these goods can be brought to Charleston as cheaply 
as they can to New York, yet they are not imported directly, 
because they could not find a market in Charleston. We have 
been assured if this difficulty was removed our direct importations 
from Europe would at once equal to our exports. But so long 
as we are unable to forward these goods into the interior, our 
market for European goods must be confined to the supply of 
our own limited wants. Look at the present course of the trade 
between the South and West. The importations from Tennessee 
and Kentucky into South Carolina and Georgia amount to millions 
of dollars, but instead of their being paid for in foreign goods, 
imported directly into Charleston and Savannah, in exchange 
for our own cotton and rice, we pay for them in gold and silver, 
or in bills upon the North, thereby losing entirely the profits on 
the importation and greatly embarrassing our merchants by the 
operation. Now if we only had the means of transporting these 
goods by a railroad to the West, everything would be changed. 
Not only would we pay for Western productions, consumed by 
the South, in foreign goods received in exchange for our produce, 
but we should also be able to supply a large portion of the Western 
country with all the goods now obtained by them from abroad, 
receiving in exchange their products to be distributed in Southern 



458 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

ships throughout the world. The truth is that all our efforts to 
establish a direct trade with Europe must in a great measure be 
unavailing, unless we can provide a market in the West for the 
goods we may import. Our Railroad, with the aid of the South 
Western Railroad Bank, will achieve for us this important and 
peaceful victory." ^ 

Close upon the publication of this powerful and most states- 
manlike series of papers, the breaking of ground at Columbia for 
the beginning of the construction of the branch to connect that 
city with the Charleston and Hamburg Road was begun, and 
upon that occasion Hayne spoke with an eloquence never surpassed 
by any effort of his life. It was upon that occasion the expression 
was used, selected by Mayor Courtenay from among all of his 
phrases, to mark the bust placed at the latter's instance in the 
Council Chamber at Charleston, forty-four years after Hayne's 
untimely death and some forty-two or three subsequent to the 
magnificent but abortive scheme of erecting a great memorial in 
his honor. The phrase is one well to be considered: "Next to 
the Christian religion, I know of nothing to be compared with the 
influence of a free, social and commercial intercourse, in softening 
asperities, removing prejudices, extending knowledge and pro- 
moting human happiness." ^ In the same speech he introduces 
a remark which is calculated to throw much light upon a subsequent 
correspondence. "It is a fortunate circumstance," he says, "that 
by the purchase of the Charleston Rail Road the means have been 
furnished of removing all local jealousies and reconciling all 
conflicting interest; and he must be in heart an enemy to the 
whole enterprise who is not satisfied with an arrangement so 
well calculated to meet the views and wishes of all." 

From neighboring States came echoes of his eloquent appeal, 
the Richmond Enquirer paraphrasing an utterance to stimulate 

* Courier, March i6, 1838. ' Mercury, March 21, 1838. 



RHETT'S RESOLUTION CONCERNING ABOLITION 459 

Virginia: "And if we shall falter in our course, we, too, will de- 
serve our fate." So far, however, were the bulk of the representa- 
tive men of South Carolina from being conscious or mindful of that 
which was mainly responsible for " the wasteful " cultivation of 
her soil and so impressed with the immense benefits to be derived 
from that which Calhoun considered as "the best substratum of 
population in the world," that at the Augusta meeting, in favor of 
direct trade, held about this time, there was put on record an 
utterance which to-day seems almost archaic — "the great truth 
will be seen and felt and acknowledged, that of all the social condi- 
tions of man, the most favorable to the development of the cardinal 
virtues of the heart and the noblest faculties of the soul, to 
the promotion of private happiness and public prosperity, is that 
of slave-holding communities, under free political institutions — 
a truth hardly yet understood among ourselves, but which the 
future history of these States is, we trust, destined to illustrate." ' 
It was certainly a truth not thoroughly understood by Haynein 1818, 
or even as late as 1827; while in 1833 he seemed to confine his 
declaration to the discovery announced that, from a military stand- 
point, the slave States were strengthened instead of being weakened, 
as he had evidently thought up to that time they were by the in- 
stitution. Meanwhile the shares for the Southwestern Bank 
being all promptly subscribed for and other arrangements com- 
pleted, the Governor of Tennessee, in behalf of that State, subscribed 
for $650,000 worth of stock in the Road, bringing Tennessee's 
subscription up to and over the million-dollar mark, with regard 
to which the Knoxville Register declared that Hayne's address was 
of immense value; and, in addition that the shares in the stock of the 
Road had been disposed of at a premium of 6 per cent.^' But as if 
to test the endurance of the great soul animating his fellow-citizens 
to this supreme effort, the Fates now intervened, and Charleston 

> Courier, April 9, 1838. ' Ibid., April 16, 1838. 



46o ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

was devastated by a fire involving a loss of $3,000,000 of property 
and many lives. ^ To the shrivelling effects of this conflagration 
upon the spirits of the strongest and most determined men of the 
community, a letter from J. L. Petigru bears witness : "The scene 
before us at this time beats everything in the way of moralizing 
that the Pulpit or the tragic stage can do. Charleston may be said 
to be no more. The desolation that reigns in the busiest, liveliest 
streets, the rude columns that once were chirmieys standing 
as thick as trees in the forest and the piles of rubbish everywhere 
over the ground in most unsightly disorder, are miserable memorials 
of our fallen state. . . . There is no knowing what will be done. 
Wise and vigorous counsels are necessary to keep the place from 
losing the very name of town and sinking into a village. We all 
think it was a judgment; but disagree for what it was sent. I 
think it was the boastful, threatening and insolent convention at 
Augusta, where we were making such ridiculous promises of what 
we were going to do." ^ The fire was a conflagration and a great 
and disastrous blow to the city ; but the map of the burnt district, 
while indicating that the heart and a considerable portion of the 
whole of the city was destroyed, does not reveal a condition quite 
as desperate as Mr. Petigru's letter would lead one to infer; while, 
with regard to his strictures on the Augusta Convention, it should 
be borne in mind that he was about the last of the Federalists. As 
was getting to be usual in all difficulties, the first thing done was 
the placing of Hayne at the head of a committee to devise the means 
of getting things into shape, and in a month such progress had been 
made that merchants, with great pluck, were publishing notices 
that by the fall they would be ready to do business, and Hayne 
was free once more to bend all his energies on the railroad. 

• Courier, April 27-30, 1838. 

^ Unpublished correspondence of J. L. Petigru. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Hamilton's revolt, calhoun consults with van buren's 
secretary of war as to the overthrow of thompson and 

LEGARE. the quarrel BETWEEN CALHOUN AND THOMPSON 

The close of the congressional session did not find Calhoun in 
that buoyant frame of mind which his letter to his daughter at the 
outset had indicated, and with some bitterness he wrote to James 
Edward Calhoun, under date of April 21, 1838: "Preston and 
Thompson have done much mischief — more than they can ever 
repair if they live a hundred years." * That these two men had, 
up to that difference, been his stanchest supporters, contributing 
in no small degree to that immense power he wielded in the State, 
seemed to have passed altogether from his memory, and to the most 
eminent of all his opponents in the State in the nullification 
struggle, now Van Buren's Secretary of War, he wrote in July of 
the same year from Fort Hill : " I am glad to inform you that there 
is opposition in this district to General Thompson," and urged 
Mr. Poinsett to stir up opposition against Thompson, in the 
mountains, and against Legare, in Charleston, and to see that 
Gresham and Norton of Pickens " should go right." ^ 

Since the elimination of Senator Smith from the politics of 
South Carolina, most of Calhoun's opponents had fought him with 
bated breath, even the doughty Petigru dealing more in covert 
allusion and innuendo than direct attack; but not so James 
Hamilton. Having parted with his old chieftain, Hamilton struck 

' "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 396. ' Ibid., pp. 397-398. 

461 



462 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

at him openly and fearlessly. "Until Mr. Calhoun consented to 
become the foster father of this treasury offspring," he rashly as- 
serted, at the extra session of the Legislature, " there were not ten 
individuals in the State with whom the unpromising bantling ob- 
tained countenance." In this Hamilton was wrong; but in that 
with which he followed it, there was wisdom. " Can we not allow 
our State," he cried, " ne moment of repose? Must she pass the 
verge of one agitation to be hurried into another? Can she never 
breathe for one instant in the temperate zone?" ^ The Unionists 
would have hardly been human if they had kept silent, and James 
S. Smith replied with spirit and, through the Unionists who 
flocked to his standard, Calhoun more than made good his losses, 
and accordingly Hamilton found himself in a minority of seven or 
nine on the vote upon the resolutions which he had declared 
"were levelled at one of our Senators." 

The attempts to drag Hayne into the controversy were very 
properly rebuked by the Mercury, which declared : " General 
Hayne' s position is as it should be. We shall not copy the evil ex- 
ample of the Telescope, in attempting to drag into politics a man 
whose status requires him rather to moderate, conciliate and unite 
all in support of the great enterprise which he directs." ^ 

How fiercely this flame was burning is evinced by some of the 
toasts of the day. At a Pickens district celebration, strongly for 
Calhoun, we read: "W. C. Preston: An alien by birth and a 
traitor to the State of his adoption. In him have we been deceived, 
but will never be again." And at Abbeville: "Legare, Campbell 
and Thompson, recreants to the South, etc." " W. C. Preston : He 
has betrayed the trust reposed in him." ^ In addition to those fran- 
tic fulminations, a whack was made at the railroad, the bank and 
the loan to Charleston to rebuild, by the following: "South 

^Courier, June 12, 1838. ^Mercury, July 17, 1838. 

^ Courier, July 17, 1838. 



HAMILTON'S REVOLT 463 

Carolina Legislature: May it be confined within its legitimate 
sphere, and guarantees and loans for corporations be discon- 
tinued." 

In the midst of his disconsolate Unionist friends, grieving over 
the impending defeat of Legare, Richard Yeadon alone took a 
gloomy satisfaction in impressing upon them their political folly 
in presenting Legare to the opposition as a weapon with which to 
slaughter Pinckney, the Courier declaring: "Mr. Pinckney was 
proscribed because he had the resolution on the French and 
Abolition questions to resist the dictation of a Senatorial colleague ; 
and Preston, Legare, Campbell and Thompson are threatened with 
a like fate." ^ The friends of Preston m Columbia did all in their 
power to placate Calhoun. They invited him to the Preston barbe- 
cue ; but Calhoun declined in a quiet, dignified letter which, never- 
theless, accentuated the difference between Preston and himself, 
reciting his inability, in consequence, to appear at a festivity arranged 
to indorse Preston. The committee gained nothing by extending 
the invitation, and Calhoun wrote Duff Green: "The Preston 
dinner is considered a failure." In the same letter he exhibited 
great bitterness against Thompson, alluding to "his art and duplic- 
ity." ^ Out of all these bickerings Hayne resolutely kept, winning 
the commendation of both factions ; complimented at the Preston 
dinner in the toast: "The Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston 
Raih-oad : An enterprise worthy of the devotion of such a man as 
Robert Y. Hayne; " ^ and at the dinner to R. B. Rhett, where he 
was directly toasted: "Robert Y. Hayne: His untiring efforts in 
behalf of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad de- 
clare to the world that his patriotism requires not the excitements 
of power to maintain its existence." " Beyond the limits of the 
State attention was turning to him even more strikingly, and by the 

» Ihid., July 20, 1838. ' Courier, Aug. 6, 1838. 

^"Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 398. * Ibid., Sept. 11, 1838. 



464 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



Columbus Enquirer of Georgia he was named for the Presidency 
of the United States, with John Tyler of Virginia for Vice-Presi- 
dent/ The feeling which Calhoun entertained for his former inti- 
mate, Thompson, had drawn him into a somewhat unfortunate 
imbroglio, out of which Thompson emerged unscathed; while it 
required all of Calhoun's power in the use of words to extricate 
himself from an awkward situation. The fairest way to present 
the matter would be by the two letters entire, but Calhoun's is so 
lengthy that a synopsis of the salient points must suffice. The 
trouble arose over Calhoun's support of the divorce of bank and 
State at a dinner in his honor, on which occasion he had character- 
ized Thompson's remarks in stronger language than that gentle- 
man was willing to permit. Thompson's letter to Calhoun was 
dated August 30, 1838, from Greenville, and was as follows: "Sir: 
In the course of my remarks on Tuesday last, I stated that the 
demand of the public dues in gold and silver only had first been pre- 
sented in Congress as a distinct and specific proposition by Colonel 
Benton. You interrupted me, and said that my statement was 
false (and, I understand, added that I knew it to be so). This oc- 
curred at a dinner given to you, and I could therefore do no more 
than say that such language was unprovoked, and that I could not 
and would not submit to it from any man. I had hoped that when 
the excitement of the moment had passed away, it would have been 
withdrawn. As it has not, I have no alternative left but to en- 
quire whether you intended to use the language attributed to you, 
and whether or not I am to regard it as retracted or withdrawn? " 
To this Calhoun replied from Fort Hill, September 2 : " Sir; You 
commence by giving your understanding of the occurrence on 
Tuesday last before you ask the question to which you desire an 
answer. I shall follow your example." Then follows a lengthy 
statement which the writer declares was the occasion that "I 

* Courier, Aug. 23, 1838. 



HAMILTON'S REVOLT 465 

drew the inference I did. . . . But I now understand from your 
note that in this I was mistaken. ..." After some questions 
as to Thompson's intentions, the conclusion, however, is: "It is 
sufficient to say that the inference I drew, and the expression to 
which you object, was drawn on the supposition that you had 
directly contradicted, in unqualified terms, my assertion . . . and of 
course the expression is not applicable to the more restricted prop- 
osition which I now understand you had made." * In the same 
issue of the Courier in which the settlement of this difficulty was 
published, appeared an account of the flattering reception accorded 
Hayne in Lexington, Kentucky, at a meeting at which Henry Clay, 
Vice-President R. M. Johnson and other distinguished men were 
present. The affairs of the road seemed very bright and cheerful, 
but the president's report, published soon after, in which again he 
alludes to that object which was to him the greatest of all, viz. : 
"The great object is to break down the mountain barriers which 
separate two entire sections and to bind them firmly together in the 
bonds of a free, social and commercial intercourse, the only sure 
foundation of a perpetual union," ^ indicated, nevertheless, by what 
a narrow margin success had been snatched from failure. To the 
great bank 95,000 shares had been subscribed, and arrangements 
had been made to bring from Europe so much of the loan effected 
by Hamilton on the credit of the State, in specie, as would suffice 
to put the bank in operation without embarrassment to other inter- 
ests ; but the banking privileges which had been granted were upon 
the express condition that subscriptions to the road amounting in 
October, 1837, to $5,300,000 should be increased by December 31, 
1837, to $8,000,000.^ By the subscription of the State of Tennessee, 
the amount was raised to $5,950,000, which left $2,050,000 to be 
obtained in three weeks, and this could not possibly be obtained in 
any other way than by the purchase of the Hamburg Road at the 

' Ibid., Sept. 12, 1838. ^Ibid., Oct. 13, 1838. ^ Ibid. 

2 H 



1 



466 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

round price paid for it, coupled with the condition that stock- 
holders should subscribe for 20,000 shares, the first payments of 
which were to be deducted from purchase money, while the $50,000 
still due, to obtain the great loan, was subscribed by the city of 
Charleston. The plan was to extend the main trunk to Columbia, 
thence by Butt Mountain Gap into North Carolina, through the 
French Broad valley to Knoxville. Considering the resources for 
carrying on this work, it was announced that the most which could 
be reasonably hoped for the present was the extension of the 
branch destined to be the main stem to Columbia and the payment 
of what was the price of the Hamburg Road, actually $2,300,000, 
$700,000 due the banks and $1,600,000 to the road. To put the road 
in thorough order, $300,000 was necessary. Cash in hand from 
instalments and first loan was $1,150,000, which it was proposed 
to utilize as follows: $350,000 to banks, $180,000 for repairs, 
leaving $620,000 to be applied to second instalment $800,000 
due on purchase money of Hamburg Road, which, with interest 
charges $100,000, in all amounted to $900,000, leaving a deficit 
of nearly $300,000, which could only be met by third instalment 
or temporary loan. By utilizing the 10,000 shares of the Hamburg 
Road pledged for this second instalment due the vendors, the 
president hoped, as they were valued at par, $1,000,000, $500,000 
could be borrowed. From the third instalment on the stock he ex- 
pected $300,000 and from second guaranteed State loan $1,000,000. 
With the second payment to banks, $350,000, and repayment of 
loan of $500,000, releasing stock, there would be in hand $450,000 
with which to push on the road and meet the instalment due 
January i, 1840, for the purchase of the Hamburg Road, by which 
date two more instalments of the stock of the Louisville, Cincinnati 
and Charleston must be collected. It does not seem to have been 
an unreasonable scheme; but of course it was dependent upon 
those who had subscribed, paying an amount which would then be 



HAMILTON'S REVOLT 467 

one-quarter of the whole of the obhgation assumed, and Hayne had 
every right to assume that they would respond to their obligation, 
if for no other reason, than because these stockholders had promptly 
subscribed for $9,500,000 worth of shares in the bank. Those 
under obligation to pay at some time over seven millions of dollars, 
subscribing for more than nine million more, certainly could be 
expected to meet of the first, in a year, six or eight hundred thou- 
sand, otherwise their subscriptions meant nothing. In the year 
and nine months in which he had been president, Hayne had 
raised the capital stock of the company from $4,000,000 to 
$8,000,000, $2,000,000 more than the amount with which Cal- 
houn had asserted, just before Hayne's election, the road could 
be carried from Charleston to the Ohio by the Tuckaseege 
route, through North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. Cal- 
houn had then thought that on a fair survey, revealing which was 
the best route, the Tuckaseege or the French Broad, the whole 
State would acquiesce — "Even the selfish will be ashamed to 
object." He was mistaken. The survey had so thoroughly de- 
monstrated the impracticability of the Tuckaseege and the superior- 
ity of the French Broad, that he himself was forced to admit he 
had, in some degree, been mistaken ; but so far from any one being 
ashamed to object, every objector had incontinently abandoned the 
Tuckaseege route and harked back to the junction with Georgia, 
and of these Calhoun was himself the chief. The purchase of the 
Hamburg Road, so far from satisfying these, simply was utilized 
for the purpose of discrediting the French Broad route. The 
publication of a table disclosing the earnings of the Hamburg 
Road, in the report of the president, revealed a steady growth. 
The number of passengers transported and fares collected had, in 
four years, doubled. The amount received for carriage of the 
mails and the number of bales of cotton increased by more than 
50 per cent. The gross earnings doubled, and representing 14 per 



468 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

cent on the purchase price.* Put in thorough order and with the 
addition of the fork moving to Columbia, once paid for, there was 
good reason to beheve the road could be made to push its way 
across the State, even if slowly. But with this eternal war upon it 
from within, it could never hope to succeed, and those who conducted 
this war upon it were in the main responsible for the fact that it 
did finally fail. A new assailant now appeared. The name 
"Many Stockholders" having been shown to be absurd, the critic 
now conducting the attack assumed the more euphemistic title — 
"Friend to his Country." This correspondent did not exhibit, 
nor was it necessary that he should display, any great degree of 
intelligence. Perseverance and determination are effective in 
destructive efforts, and these he had. The enterprise was one de- 
pendent upon the maintenance of confidence, and if that could be 
shaken, it must fail. In eight heavy, lengthy pieces, abounding 
in glaring misstatements, preposterous arguments, unsupported 
assertions and gloomy forebodings, "Friend to his Country" gave 
the reasons why he and others, who were under a certain pecuniary 
obligation to contribute to an enterprise, should be freed from that 
obligation. His intentions were probably the best; but the eight 
articles with which he hammered the enterprise for a month, in the 
light of facts and the replies at the time, are scarcely to his credit. 
The statement that, in capitalizing the road, Charleston would be 
drained of $12,000,000, might be excused, although it is difficult 
to understand how Charleston could lose more than she put 
in; but the statement that all of Kentucky's subscription had 
been withdrawn, had as a basis to rest on, only the fact that the 
subscription from Covington, in Kentucky, in the neighborhood 
of a third of the whole, had been released for the avowed purpose 
of permitting it to be utilized for the carrying on of the road from 
Lexington to Covington on the Ohio, after the amendment to the 

* Courier, Sept. 12, 1838. 



HAMILTON'S REVOLT 469 

charter, which ended the main road at Lexington, Kentucky. This 
was careless, but when the subscriptions of Tennessee, over a 
miUion of dollars, were asserted to be less than a third of this sum, 
the error was astonishing. The bald statement that " the country 
from the mountains through the whole of Buncombe County, 
North Carolina, equal in length to and adjoining the section we 
have just been considering, has not a trade or passengers, nor can 
ever have, to pay $500 income on any road whatever," was an 
empty utterance, worth nothing ; but the inquiry which seemed to 
admit in advance the impossibility of the South competing with the 
North, was such an admission of inferiority as to unfit the writer for 
the position of critic. " Can you, with your Southern habits, stand 
a competition with cool, persevering and determined Northern 
habits, and this on their own ground?" was certainly strange 
language to address to those who, for a decade and more, had been 
asseverating that the repeal of the tariff of abominations was all 
that they asked for — a fair field and no favor. But addressed to 
those who had built the then longest railway in the world, and one 
of the few ever built within the estimate, it indicated an utter 
inability to appreciate the proved capacity of his own people.* 

In the fall elections, Hugh Swinton Legare was overwhelmingly 
beaten by Holmes for Congress, and Calhoun admitted that he 
had interested himself to assist in this result, in concert with the 
Secretary of War in Van Buren's cabinet.^ But all his efforts to 
overthrow Thompson were vain, the latter being returned by a 
majority of 1025. At the fall meeting of the Direct Trade Con- 
vention at Augusta, J. H. Hammond moved to erase that portion 
of the address of the president of the convention which recom- 
mended the clothing of railroads with banking privileges, which 
motion to erase was supported by J. A. Calhoun of South Carolina 
and Longstreet of Georgia, but opposed by Patrick Noble, Ker 

^ Mercury, Oct. 9, 1838, et seq. * "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 407. 



470 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Boyce, B. F. Dunkin and I. E. Holmes of South Carolina and 
J. M. Berrien of Georgia, and failed/ A day later the Courier 
alludes to " a writer in the Mercury laboring to destroy the con- 
fidence of our citizens in the great enterprise," ^ and almost con- 
temporaneously with the publication of "Friend to his Country's" 
last article, appears the date of Calhoun's letter of resignation from 
the directorship of the great Western Road. U 

^ Courier, Oct. 19, 1838. ' Ibid., Oct. 20, 1838. 

i 






i 



CHAPTER IX 

CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM THE DIRECTORSHIP OF THE LOUISVILLE, 
CHARLESTON AND CINCINNATI RAILROAD. HIS TWO LETTERS 
CONSIDERED. HAYNE'S LETTER, WHICH INTERVENED 

Two letters from Calhoun in reference to this resignation ap- 
pear. The first is dated October 28, 1838, the second and more 
important one, November 17, in reply to a letter from Hayne, 
urging him to reconsider, and making an argument which Calhoun 
attempts to meet. The first letter is as follows: "My dear Sir: 
Enclosed you have my resignation of my place in the direction of 
the Charleston and Cincinnati Railroad Company. In addition 
to the reason which I have assigned in my letter of resignation, 
and which of itself is ample, I feel bound to say to you, in candour, 
that there is another and a decided reason with me. I see by the 
last report enough to satisfy me that it is resolved to carry the road 
through by the French Broad route. I have no doubt of your 
sincere and deep conviction in its favor, but as deep as yours is for 
it, mine is no less deep and sincere against it. The more I reflect, 
the more thorough is my conviction of its complete and disastrous 
failure, should it be attempted ; and thus thinking, I cannot bring 
my mind to continue to occupy a place in the direction and share 
in the responsibility of a measure which my judgment cannot 
approve. But at the same time, as the route is resolved on, you 
have my best wishes for its success. No one would rejoice more 
than myself to find in the end that you were right, and that I was 
mistaken. I believe the success of a connection of the West is 

471 



472 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

of the last importance to us politically and commercially. I, as 
you know, was among the first to suggest and second it with all 
my zeal, and my opinion remains unchanged. But as important 
as I consider the successful execution of the project, in the same 
degree do I consider its failure as disastrous every way to the 
State. I do verily believe that Charleston has more advantages 
in her position for the Western trade than any city on the Atlantic, 
but to develop them we ought to look to the Tennessee instead of 
the Ohio, and much further West than Cincinnati or Lexington. 
With all the lights I have, there are two routes by all comparison 
superior to all others; the one through Georgia to Ross's landing 
or thereabouts, and the other by Savannah River from Hamburgh 
to the head of steamboat navigation on the Little Tennessee. If 
I am not mistaken, steam navigation might be brought by the latter 
within loo miles or much less between the Eastern and Western 
waters for the fourth part the expense which the projected route by 
the French Broad would cost; and that it would not cost half the 
sum to bring a ton weight by that route to Charleston, even from 
Cincinnati or Pittsburg, as it will by the French Broad Railway 
if the navigation of the Tennessee should be improved, as it will, 
for steam navigation. I throw out these suggestions not, of course, 
to influence your judgment, which seems to be deliberately made 
up in favor of the French Broad route, but simply as indicating the 
state of my own mind; and from which you will see it would be 
doing injustice to myself to remain longer in the direction. Let 
me say to you in conclusion, both as a friend to yourself and the 
Road, not to move beyond Columbia till it is ascertained what is 
the result of the Georgia route." ^ By itself this letter reads well; 
but when we attempt to reconcile it with other letters by the same 
author, not so well. If there was "ample scope for both" roads, 
as he stated to Williams in 1835, when failing to convince him, then, 

' "Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 411-412. 



CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM DIRECTORSHIP 473 

of the superiority of the Georgia route and, if the great point was 
"that rivalry and conflict should not be permitted to defeat the 
grand design of uniting the two sections," why should he now 
abandon that which he had associated himself with for nearly two 
years? Had he not urged his friends in 1836 to subscribe to the 
stock in the road, when he thought he had found a route which 
would, with $6,000,000, be easily carried to the Ohio? Had he 
not urged it upon Patrick Noble that this route and the French 
Broad should be surveyed and the best selected when "even the 
selfish would be ashamed to object"? Yet here he was declaring 
that justice to himself would not permit him to continue a director, 
and that, when surveys, conducted by a man in whose ability and 
integrity he firmly believed, had established the superiority of the 
route, which, however, was not the one which he, Calhoun, thought 
was the best. He had been on the Board a year and nine months, 
during which period he admits that he could not get a man in 
Charleston to agree with him about the Georgia route, and where 
everybody but himself and some anonymous writers were for the 
French Broad, even Colonel Gadsden, who advocated the Georgia 
route, later, having, as engineer, represented the excellencies of 
the French Broad; yet everything, he advised now, should stop 
until it was seen what was the result of the Georgia route, a route 
he had assisted, although supposed connected with the opposing 
road. Under date of November i, 1838, Hayne replied to this 
letter in one which, while powerfully argumentative, is even more 
marked by its firmness. There is an appeal to the close personal 
relations, to the political obligations due him from Calhoun; but 
it is a thoroughly manly letter, and in it there is a note of sternness 
which almost indicates that it would be impossible for those rela- 
tions to be retained or his belief in Calhoun to remam, if that ap- 
peal should be refused. The letter is as follows: "My dear sir: 
I have just received your letter resigning your office as Director in 



^■: 



474 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

our R. R. Co., with the private letter which accompanies it. I 
regret extremely the view of this matter which you have taken. 
At every period of my life it has afforded me great pain to differ 
from you, and it is peculiarly painful to differ on a subject in 
relation to which your hearty cooperation is so essential to prevent 
that failure which we both agree will be so disastrous in its conse- 
quences. I had hoped that the measures adopted and the situation 
in which we have been placed by the Legislatures of the several 
States would have removed all grounds for any difference of opinion 
as to the measures now to be pursued ; and I cannot persuade my- 
self that if you will calmly review the whole subject, read care- 
fully the documents which I now send you, and then ask yourself 
what ought to be done ? that it will be possible for you to withhold 
your valuable support from us. I ask it, at all events, as a debt due 
to me on the score of long-tried personal and political relations 
and duty which you owe to the State, that will look at the question 
in the aspect in which I shall now present, and then say whether 
we cannot find in the present situation and policy of the Company 
some common ground on which we may both stand, and move on 
hereafter steadily and harmoniously together. When the proposi- 
tion was originally made for a connection by Rail Road between 
Charleston and the West, no particular route was designated by 
us. It is true that the invitation came from Cincinnati, but the 
citizens of Charleston, in responding to that invitation, carefully 
avoided committing themselves on that point. In their 'proceed- 
ings ' (a copy of which I send for your perusal) they left the proper 
route to be determined by a consultation among all the States 
concerned, and on an examination of the proper route by skilful 
engineers. Colonels Gadsden and Brisbane and Mr. Holmes were 
employed in making those examinations, and reported decidedly 
in favor of the route by the French Broad River as affording a passage 
for a Rail Road 'unexampled in the topography of the world.' I 



CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM DIRECTORSHIP 475 

send you the documents, showing their decided preference of this 
over all other known routes. The Knoxville convention followed, 
where 300 delegates assembled, representing nine States, including 
55 from the State of Georgia. The subject was examined by that 
convention in all its bearings, as will appear from a copy of its 
proceedings (which I also forward with a request that you will 
carefully examine it) , and the result was the final establishment 
of the route by the French Broad River, as the most direct and 
preferable route to the West. Among the delegates from South 
Carolina present, and who concurred in these proceedings, were 
Colonel Gadsden, Mr. Poinsett, Colonel Noble and many other 
distinguished men. The Georgia delegation themselves finally 
concurred, asking only the privilege of joining on by a branch, & 
the whole of the proceedings were adopted unanimously. From 
that moment I have regarded the question as decided that the 
route from Charleston to the West was to be through the centre of 
our own State and by North Carolina and Tennessee; and after 
obtaining the charter from the other States, and going so far on 
this subject, I have supposed that we were bound in good faith, 
at least, to do our part towards the accomplishment of the object. 
This to be observed, however, that we never came under any obli- 
gation to make the road for the other States, though the idea was held 
out that South Carolina would be disposed to aid North Carolina 
in doing her part of the work. Should the other States, therefore, 
fail to cooperate with us hereafter, we can certainly not be expected 
to push the work beyond our own Hmits, and to that extent it seems 
to me it would be, in any event, our interest to go. But though I 
have supposed that the question of extending our connection to the 
West by the French Broad River was settled (provided the other 
States should do their part towards it) I was aware that some of 
our citizens, especially along our Southern border, were very 
solicitous to have a road extended from the termination of the 



476 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Charleston and Hamburg Road, through the State of Georgia. 
To meet their views, to harmonize the whole State, and at the same 
time lay the foundation for the extension of our connection in that 
direction, we resolved to purchase that road. And this has ac- ^ 
cordingly been done. The putting that road on a better footing 
was indispensable to enable it to command the trade which will fl 
be brought by the Georgia roads to Augusta, and from them to 
Charleston. The funds of the old company were inadequate to 
that object ; the purchase by us, therefore, besides the other objects 
to be accomplished by it, became indispensable to the extension 
of our connection through Georgia. The embankment and new 
Iron and other repairs and other improvements will cost several 
hundred thousand dollars beyond the current receipts from the 
road itself, will in the end consume the whole loan made under the 
guaranty of the State. While making such great efforts and in- 
curring such vast expenditures to meet the views of those who 
preferred a connection through Georgia, it does appear to me that 
we have justly entitled ourselves to their cordial support for that 
other and necessary part of our project, the extension of our road by 
the central route as far as circumstances may permit, taking care 
to proceed only step by step, and securing the fruits of our labors 
as we advance. You do not seem to have realized the unques- 
tionable truth that the project of carrying a road by the central 
route was the only one th^t could have secured the aid of the State, 
or enabled us to purchase the Charleston Railroad, or given us the 
smallest chance of success. The guaranty of the State to the loan 
could not have been obtained, nor the Bank of Charleston have 
been secured by any other plan. Now, all the stockholders — 
whatever may be their respective views as to the most expedient 
route for the road — concur unanimously in the opinion that the 
bank is indispensable to the success of any road. Without it, our 
whole scheme would have failed long since, nor can the Charleston 



i 



CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM DIRECTORSHIP 477 

and Hamburg Road be paid for or improved except by means of 
this common bond, which alone can keep the company together. 
We think, too, that this bank, under an enlarged and liberal system 
of management, will supersede the necessity of a U. S. Bank, and 
be of inestimable value to the trade and currency of the South. 
The giving up the route by the French Broad River would even 
now forfeit the Bank charter, which could never have been obtained 
in favor of a road looking to any other route. Your own reflections 
will, I am convinced, fully satisfy you on both of these points. Now 
it seems to me there can be but one danger from the prosecution of 
our scheme in that direction, and that is, that the other States may 
not meet us and cooperate in the work. But we have laid down 
the rule of progressing step hy step from the ocean and applying 
our own funds to that part of the road lying within our own limits. 
To the road, as far as Columbia, I do not understand you to make 
any objection. I presume that when we reach Columbia you 
would not object (should our means permit) that our road should 
be extended to the foot of the mountains ; there it must, of course, 
stop, if the other States do not put their shoulders to the wheel. 
But under our charter we have ten years for this; during all 
this time our Bank will be in full operation. In less than half 
that time we will have paid for and completed the improvements 
on the Charleston and Hamburg Road, & pushed our connections 
in that direction to the Missi/ and the Gulph of Mexico. You 
will see, therefore, that our plan will substantially accomplish all 
that you desire, and will do so by means that would not have been 
at our disposal at all, but for the very measures which we have 
adopted. Why not, then, harmonize the whole State and cordially 
cooperate together in the prosecution of our schemes of improve- 
ment on the plan here suggested? The only plan, be assured, 
by which ever your views can be effected. I have myself great 
confidence that North Carolina and Tennessee will in the end make 



478 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the road to Knoxville ; and then, if Kentucky fails to do her part, 
let it for the present stop. You doubt if these States will do any- 
thing, and I agree with you that, if they fail, our road shall be 
confined to the limits of our own State, — and even to that extent 
it will be of great value to our own citizens. What, therefore, can 
be the practical difference between us, in the present state of the 
question? What would you have us do that we are not now 
doing ? Would you have us formally resolve to stop the road now 
going on towards Columbia ? and declare beforehand that we will 
in no event extend it beyond Columbia? If so, we forfeit all our 
charters at once, put an end to the Bank and the road together, and 
realize all the calamities which must attend such a disgraceful 
failure. I am quite sure you could not desire this, and a moment's 
reflection must convince you that our present plan of operation 
is the only one by which your object as well as ours can ever be 
effected. I am satisfied that, with your cooperation, we cannot 
and will not fail, in effecting a connection with the South-West, 
through Georgia, and in carrying our road at least to the foot of 
the mountains; its progress further must depend on the coopera- 
tion of Georgia and Tennessee. Should your influence be thrown 
against us, our whole project, in all its parts, may fail. But what- 
ever may be the result, I am determined that no efforts on my part 
shall be wanting to prevent such a calamity. If our whole scheme 
is destined to fail, the fault shall not be mine. And I can con- 
scientiously declare that I have entered upon this great work with 
the purest and most patriotic motives; that I have no ends to an- 
swer, but to advance the success and welfare of the country, and 
that I am disposed to go as far as I possibly can, without betraying 
my trust, to meet the views and wishes of such of my fellow citizens 
as may prefer another route. Having made this full and frank 
explanation of my views and feelings, I am not without hope that 
you may find in them sufficient to satisfy all your doubts & that in 



CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM DIRECTORSHIP 479 

our further measures I shall have your support, always valuable, 
and in this case peculiarly desirable to me. While thus discussing 
in the spirit of 'by gone times' the points of difference between 
us on this subject, you will allow me to say one [word] on other 
points. It has been to me a source of much regret that I could 
not concur with you on some of the political questions which have 
of late agitated the Country. In those questions and the contests 
which have grown out of them I have taken no part, being 
persuaded that these things would soon pass away, and that 
other questions of more vital importance would soon absorb all 
our attention. I believe that the Abolition question will in a few 
years assume an importance which will throw everything else into 
the shade. Have you seen the proceedings & speeches of the late 
meeting at Birmingham? Have you marked the open interference 
of the Abolitionists of the North with the Elections? Be assured a 
great struggle is at hand, and we must be united at home. Bring 
the South, I say, into convention, and tender an issue. This sooner 
or later must be done, ' or we shall be undone.' Let the Sub-treas- 
ury, I say, be settled one way or the other ; let the National Bank 
be abandoned and thought of as [illegible], & let all other party 
questions among us cease, and the South be rallied to the defence 
of our ' altars and our firesides.' In this cause I trust we shall be 
again found fighting ' shoulder to shoulder,' and that all past dif- 
ferences of opinion will be forgotten. 

"Believe me to be as ever 

"Most sincerely yours 

"RoBT. Y. Hayne." ^ 

This letter throws a light upon the conduct of the railroad scheme 
which makes much that was obscure quite clear. Hayne states 

' Letter of R. Y. Hayne copied from original in Ciemson Collection, by courtesy 
of Professor Keitt, for author. 



48o ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

that the result of the Knoxville Convention was to decide that the 
route of the road "from Charleston to the West was to be through 
the centre of our own State and by North Carolina and Tennessee," 
which was certainly the case, and also that the French Broad route 
had been praised highly by Colonel Gadsden, when connected with 
the company as engineer. The first indication of discord was the 
springing on the promoters, at the time when books were being 
opened, of the Tuckaseege route, discovered by Calhoun and 
Gadsden, with regard to which it is evident that Hayne considered 
there had been some reflection cast upon him by the comments of 
the meeting advocating it, and he then quotes Calhoun as authority 
for the idea that he, Hayne, and the engineer who had examined 
the route had been misled by the guide, but as this one was fur- 
nished by the residents, he stated he failed to see how he or the en- 
gineer were to blame. Subsequently, careful examination seems 
to have convinced even Calhoun that the Tuckaseege route was 
impracticable, and Hayne evidently suggested to Calhoun that he 
would support him for the presidency, as he well could afford to 
do, on Calhoun's letter to Noble; but Calhoun had required im- 
possible conditions, and does not seem to have been thought of 
by others, who in Hayne's absence elected him (Hayne). Then 
began the paper war, which it was vainly sought to appease with 
the purchase of the Hamburg Road, with regard to which Hayne 
had declared that he who further opposed must be at heart an 
enemy to the enterprise. But the war grew only fiercer, and Cal- 
houn resigned. What was he to think of his old leader's action ? 

Meanwhile, Hamilton having successfully placed one loan in 
Europe, had returned with $500,000 in specie aboard the ship 
Osceola ^ and interest in the bank absorbed the attention of the 
pubHc, the stockholders being divided into two parties, one for 
combining the two corporations under one president, the other 

* Courier, Nov. 3, 1838. 



CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM DIRECTORSHIP 481 

for keeping them apart; and to avoid misunderstanding, Hayne 
publicly announced that he was not a candidate for the presidency 
of the bank and had no intention of relinquishing the presidency 
of the road, in which he asserted his confidence/ Those who fa- 
vored the combination which had been the course taken in Georgia, 
persisted, and in some way, whether through the rumor of Cal- 
houn's resignation or otherwise, the report got abroad that the 
railroad was to be abandoned, and City Council passed a resolution 
to the effect that such "would be a violation of the faith of the 
State." ^ Calhoun's second letter to Hayne had, in the interim, been 
written, and must be now considered. " Fort Hill, November 17th, 
1838. My dear Sir: I have received your two letters in answer to 
mine covering my resignation in the direction of the Charleston 
and Cincinnati Railroad Company. In resigning, it was no part 
of my intention to embarrass the work or weaken the public con- 
fidence in the direction; to avoid the possibility of which, I ab- 
stained from assigning one of the reasons which governed me, in 
my note of resignation. Before the public my resignation will 
stand exactly where you express a desire it should ; but at the same 
time I thought it due both to you and myself that I should assign 
the other, which had great weight with me; and such is still my 
opinion. Either, separately, is sufficient, and the two taken in 
conjunction appear to my mind irresistible; nor can I see, in any 
of the considerations you suggest, reasons to change my opinion. 
My conviction of the failure of the enterprise is deep, accompanied 
by the belief that every foot the road may progress beyond the point 
now arrived at in that direction will but increase the embarrass- 
ment. You ask what is to be done ? That is a serious question, which 
I am not prepared to answer, but I would say . . . that neither 
the charter of the bank nor the road ought to be forfeited, nor any 
understanding or pledge to other states violated, if it be possible 

1 Ihid., Nov. 13, 1838. ' Ibid., Nov. 21, 1838. 

21 



482 ROBERT Y. HAYNE ■ 

to avoid it without disastrous consequences. Thus thinking, I 
would certainly say that if the other states would complete the 
work within their respective limits, or progress proportionately 
with us toward such completion, we ought in good faith to meet 
them on our borders, though I believe that the work, if completed 
throughout, would not give an income that would keep it up. 
Other routes, in my opinion having far greater natural advantages, 
would supersede it. I am aware of the commitments in favor of 
the route (for I have read everything attentively that has been pub- 
lished in relation to it) , and know that it would be embarrassing to 
make a change. It is far from my wish to increase the embarrass- 
ments, but personally I feel none of them. I have been from the 
first opposed to the route. In reply to a letter from Mr. Williams, 
who first proposed a connection between Charleston and Cin- 
cinnati, I stated that we must turn the Aleghany to the South West, 
as New York had to the North East, and the Tennessee River 
was to us what the North River was to New York. With this view 
I proposed to aim at a point on that river above the Muscle Shoals 
and below the Suck. Learning afterwards that the Aleghany 
chain terminated farther East than I had supposed, and that 
the Tennessee might be struck at a near point higher up and on a 
shorter route, passing through a more level country, I opened a 
correspondence with some influential citizens of Georgia, pro- 
posing that route as the line of communication between the ports 
of the two states and the Western Waters, to be opened by the joint 
efforts of the two. With this view in part, I took Columbia on my 
way to Washington at the next session, when, as you will remember, 
I proposed it to both you and Hamilton, but without success. 
That route Georgia has since adopted, but with a direction looking 
wholly to her own interests, and not to that of the two States 
jointly, as might at that early stage have been easily effected. Find- 
ing so strong an aversion to cooperate with Georgia, and believing 



CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM DIRECTORSHIP 483 

that the success of the work depended on leaning as far to the West 
as possible and striking the Tennessee River instead of the Ohio, 
I next endeavored to find a route over the mountains at some point 
as far West as possible, without touching Georgia to meet these 
views. At one time I hoped I had succeeded, but having failed on 
that, my next hope was that time or experience, before it was too 
late, would effect a change in public opinion in favor of the views 
I entertained. With this hope I assented cheerfully to the proposi- 
tion to purchase the Hamburg Road, as it looked in the right direc- 
tion, and would afford an opportunity to unite our system of im- 
provement with that of Georgia, to which we must look ultimately, 
in my opinion, for the completion of the great object we have in 
view. But inferring from the last report that it is intended to 
persist in carrying through the enterprise by the route of the French 
Broad, I felt that a period had been reached when, with my opinion, 
I could no longer continue, with propriety, a member of the direc- 
tion. How could I, when I believe to go beyond Columbia, unless 
with a full understanding that the other States will do their share, 
will but add to our embarrassment, and that if the road was finished, 
it would be superseded by the one through Georgia. In confir- 
mation of this I will state a few facts. I learn from the engineers 
. . . The fact is that the whole road will be executed and the con- 
nection with the West completed before we are fairly under way. 
. . . Now when we take into consideration the greater cheapness, 
the far more favorable grade, the vast amount of business . . . 
can it be doubted . . . that the trade of Knoxville itself will 
pass through it to Charleston in preference to ours, even if it was 
completed? But you say that no other route could have secured 
the passage of the Railroad bank Charter or commanded a ma- 
jority of our Legislature in its favor. Taking the view that you 
do of the bank, that certainly is a strong consideration; but here, 
again, it has been our misfortune to differ ; one of my objections to 



.».' 



484 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the route was that it could not sustain itself by its own advantages 
without the artificial aid of the bank, to which I was opposed, among 
other grounds, because the union of the two powers in the same 
company, that over the currency and intercourse of the country 
would be dangerous to our free institutions, in which I pray I may 
be deceived. But having been overruled, I acquiesced, and wish 
the institution every success, and I trust that it may prove, as you 
suggest, the antagonist of a national bank. I fear that your im- 
pression that no other route could have got the support of the State 
is but too true, and I apprehend that it will add another instance 
to the many others of important undertakings defeated through 
selfish and local feelings. But I hope in all this I may be in error. 
I have not stated my views in a spirit of opposition, but simply to 
place before you the grounds on which I act and to free myself 
from all responsibility where I cannot have confidence. Should 
the work go on, I shall wish both you and it great success. We are 
all in the same ship, and must share alike in the good or bad fortune 
of the State ; and let me add, in conclusion, that you cannot possibly 
feel more pain in differing from me than I do in differing from you. 
I shall ever remember the important scenes in which we have acted 
together with pleasure and the important service that you have 
rendered the State and the Union. I hope that our differences 
shall never affect our personal relations, and that those that are 
passed are the last we shall ever experience. As to what you say of 
the Abolition question, we do not differ. The danger is great and 
menacing, and I have long thought and still think that the South 
ought to meet in Convention in relation to it. You know that such 
was my opinion years ago. . . . You will recollect I so expressed 
myself to you, Hamilton and McDuffie at Columbia in our con- 
sultation on the subject at the time. Finding different views were 
taken, I resolved to do my best in Congress. . . . With this view 
I moved the resolutions of last winter which have in a great meas- 



I 



CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM DIRECTORSHIP 485 

ure eflfected the object I had in view. Should it finally accom- 
plish what was intended, it may prevent for the present a conflict, 
but I look only to ourselves for permanent security. I for one am 
prepared at the earliest period to go into convention and bring the 
question to an issue. The sooner the better for all parties. . . . 
I have written you a long and I fear a tedious letter, but I have not 
said half I desired to do, etc." ^ 

Considered by itself, this is an admirable letter both in argument 
and tone and so considered comes very near justifying the great man 
who penned it ; but when it is analyzed coldly in the light of other 
statements made by the distinguished author, it fails utterly to do so. 
In the first place, he apparently admits in this letter that the company 
ought in good faith to do that on account of which he had in his first 
letter decided to withdraw from it for fear of its doing. He admits 
also that in the Tuckaseege route he had failed ; but he had distinctly 
narrowed the choice then to the Tuckaseege and the French Broad 
route, when confident that the Tuckaseege was the better, and had 
averred to Noble that upon a survey indicating which was the 
better, all would acquiesce — " even the selfish would be ashamed 
to object." Yet a decision in favor of the French Broad, by an 
engineer in whom he had asserted the greatest confidence, did not 
have the least effect in removing his opposition to the French Broad 
route, and simply sent him back after the Georgia connection, 
which he had abandoned for the Tuckaseege route. He was put- 
ting his opinion not only against that of Mr. Hayne, the president 
of the road, and all the other directors and bulk of the stockholders, 
but the best engineering talent of the day, which the best of to-day 
approves. The author of "The Defense of Charleston Harbor," 
one of the best engineers South Carolina has ever produced, thus 
contrasts the routes supported by Hayne and Calhoun : "A thread 
stretched from Charleston to the country in Kentucky, midway 

* "Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 412-416. 



486 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



between Louisville and Cincinnati, will pass almost exactly through 
these two cardinal points, Asheville and Butt Mountain Gap, in 
North Carolina. Measuring o£f at right angles from this air line, 
the Rabun gap in N. Eastern Georgia is distant to the S. W. 60 
miles, laying upon that route the disadvantage of being from 40 
to 50 miles longer, and with the Stump House tunnel for additional 
expense." ^ It should be added that this engineer, later the Rev- 
erend John Johnson, was engaged as an engineer by the South 
Carolina Railroad in examining this very section of country some 
ten years subsequent to Hayne's surveys. So much, then, for 
Calhoun's judgment. But now a graver inquiry arises. What of 
his sincerity? Can one of sound reason believe in the sincerity 
of the declaration of date November 17: " Should the work go on, I 
shall wish both you and it great success," when we find that by the 
following day, November 18, he is doing what he can to discredit it? 
From a fragmentary letter among his papers appears the following : 
" Dear Sir : Your letter presents many interesting facts and views. 
I have never doubted but that our success depended on the coop- 
eration with Georgia, and have throughout acted on that belief." 
The day previous he had informed Hayne: "Finding so strong an 
aversion to cooperate with Georgia ... I next endeavored to find 
a route over the mountains at some point as far West as possible, 
without touching Georgia, to meet these views." Characterizing 
the French Broad route as "a mad project," he counsels his cor- 
respondent not to agitate for the charter he has in view, as the "in- 
fatuation in favor of the French Broad route is yet too strong," 
but expresses the hope that the move may be made "in a year." * 
Does this not prove beyond a shadow of doubt that his hope ex- 
pressed to Hayne that he, Calhoun, might be wrong, and his wish 
of great success to him, Hayne, and the road, was absolutely 



* Memorandum, prepared for author by the late Reverend John Johnson, D.D. 

* "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 418. 



I 



CALHOUN RESIGNS FROM DIRECTORSHIP 487 

insincere? But there is still graver criticism than this to be 
directed against this letter than lack of sincerity. Calhoun dis- 
tinctly declares that one of his "objections to the route was that it 
could not sustain itself by its own advantages without the artificial 
aid of the bank," to which he was opposed, among other grounds, 
because "the union of the two powers in the same company . . . 
would be dangerous to our free institutions " ; and yet within a year, 
on the death of Hayne, we find him pressing and advocating that 
very union in the person of Colonel Gadsden,^ the strongest op- 
ponent to the French Broad route, next to Calhoun. This vague 
fear of evil flowing from the union was, however, so strong with the 
mass of stockholders about this time that, although the junction 
of the two offices was advocated by James Gadsden, the chairman, 
and the majority of the committee of thirteen appointed to report 
on the presidency of the bank ; yet the view of the minority of five, 
headed by C. G. Memminger, prevailed, and while Blanding, a 
director in the road, was chosen president of the bank, Hayne, 
the president of the road, was left off even the Board of Direction of 
the bank, in spite of his nomination for that position by the City 
Council of Charleston. In supporting Hayne for the presidency 
of the bank, Gadsden called on him for an opinion on this point, 
to vv^hich Hayne "made a candid and manly statement of his 
views of the proposed combination of the presidencies, expressing 
his approbation of the measure as legally expedient and desirable 
to produce harmony of action between road and bank, and his 
willingness, if deemed expedient by the stockholders, to serve in 
both capacities without additional compensation, and at the same 
time disclaiming all personal desire for an office which could 
only increase his burdens without corresponding profit." ^ That 
after this he should not have been even put upon the board ; while, 
as we have seen, not only Blanding served on both boards but also 

' Ibid., p. 431. ^Courier, Nov. 21, 1838. 



488 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



Hamilton, seems peculiar, especially when we find that in addition 
to the above, by the account of the Courier: "He reiterated the 
patriotic pledge not to suffer himself to be detached from the road ; 
on the contrary, to devote all the powers which God had given him 
to its successful prosecution and ultimate consummation," Did 
that declaration chill the fervor of some of his supporters? Cer- 
tain it is that the strange omission excited comment from among 
his friends, as the following chapter indicates. 



CHAPTER X 

JUDGE king's letter ON THE BANK ELECTIONS. THE ESTIMATE 
OF HAYNE AND THE WESTERN ROAD AT THIS TIME IN VIR- 
GINIA. HAYNE'S letter CONCERNING THE VOTE TO REJECT 
THE NOMINATION OF VAN BUREN AS MINISTER TO ENGLAND. 
HIS POWERFUL INFLUENCE WITH THE SOUTH CAROLINA 
LEGISLATURE 

As subsequent events proved, Judge King stood second, in the 
estimation of the Board of Directors of the road, to Hayne. At 
an early and important meeting of the Charleston stockholders 
he had been selected as their proxy, and his relations with the 
president throughout were close and cordial. In contrast to the 
whining criticism, the petty jealousies and the sublime egotism 
which contributed to wreck this grand enterprise and which heaped 
burden upon burden on the self-sacrificing patriot, who sustained 
it unflinchingly to his death, there is something wholesome and 
strengthening in the letter of Judge King, which is herewith sub- 
mitted : — 

" My DEAR General : — 

" To-morrow morning I start by the Railroad for Columbia 
to attend the circuit court that sits there on Monday. I am con- 
strained to go a day sooner than I wished in order to secure a seat 
in a conveyance that will be in time for the court. Had it not been 
for the melancholy event which has this very day clothed your 
family in mourning, I should have called in person on you to express 
to you my deep dissatisfaction at the result of the election of bank 

489 



490 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

directors. My wish was undoubtedly that you should have been 
one of the Board, and I cannot but think that some of our friends 
must have been for the time under a mental delusion when your 
name was omitted. An opinion was, I understand, very indus- 
triously circulated that the offices of Director of the Road and of 
the Bank. were incompatible, and tho I did state to the meeting in 
the City Hall my clear and unhesitating opinion on the subject, 
many of the stockholders were — I am persuaded — influenced 
by the opinion of Judge Colcock, and the argument, as it was called, 
addressed to a plain man. I do wish I had an opportunity of a 
half -hour's talk with you. That, however, must await my return. 
Unless you join us in Columbia early in the week. Most earnestly 
do I trust that the difficulties through which we have just passed 
will rise up in the minds of the stockholders, and that they wiU 
remember how much they owe you, and that but for you the honors 
and emoluments for which so many of them are struggling would 
never have been called in existence. I am. My dear Sir, with the 

sincerest regards & esteem 

"Very truly yours, 

"M. King.* 

"Thursday evening, 22d Nov., 1838." 

As the date of the convening of the Legislature approached, it 
became apparent that opposition to the road was brewing, and the 
declaration of the Governor in his message, "Cost what it may. 
South Carolina must achieve this work," was hailed with delight 
by the Courier, which editorialized as follows : " The stand which 
his Excellency takes on the subject is worthy of his character and 
patriotism, and will doubtless meet a hearty response from both the 
Legislature and the people of the State. South Carolina has indeed 
staked her fame on the prosecution of this noble enterprise, — in 
this matter there will be with her no shadow of change or turning, 

' Original letter of Judge King. 



KING'S LETTER ON THE BANK ELECTIONS 



491 



— and we look to General Hayne, fixed with a generous zeal and 
patriotic devotion to the public good, and fully possessed of the 
confidence of his own state and the other states concerned in the 
magnificent project, as the honored instrument of its happy and glo- 
rious consummation." ^ The report of the chief engineer alludes 
to illness in Hayne's family, as Judge King had; but for himself 
he says: "So far from entertaining a doubt of the practicability 
of constructing the proposed railroad from Charleston to Lexington 
and the Ohio River, but especially to the North Carolina line, 
the surveys of the past season, and much reflection on my part, 
have served to confirm me in the opinion expressed at the first 
annual meeting of the stockholders at Flat Rock in 1837, not only 
of the great feasibility of the project, but the far greater facility 
with which the passage of the Alleghany mountains may be effected 
by the routes within the limits of our surveys than in any other sec- 
tion of the United States with which we are acquainted." This was 
the man of whom Calhoun had written, September 7, 1837, that he 
"had no doubt from the tone of his letter that he would do his 
duty." Continuing, Major McNeill estimated that at a little more 
than $3,000,000, in three years, the road should reach the North 
Carolina line.^ The indefatigable president was meanwhile, with 
that tact which so often disarmed opposition, endeavoring in pub- 
lic expression to bring the warring sections together. Responding 
for South Carolina at the Virginia Commercial Convention, at 
Norfolk, he offered the following sentiment: "Our brothers of the 
New England States, of whom the South are justly proud : It is 
our duty and our interest to cherish the most intimate commercial 
relations with our Northern brethren as well as other sections of 
our Glorious Union — not, however, as dependents but on the 
terms of reciprocal advantage." ^ At this same entertainment 

1 Courier, Nov. 29, 1838. ^ Ibid., Dec. 3, 1838. 

^ Ibid., Dec. 4, 1838. 



492 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



John Tyler, who had been suggested by a Georgia paper, as has 
been before noted, for Vice-President, with Robert Y. Hayne as 
President of the United States, gave this toast: "General Robert 
Y. Hayne : Distinguished as Senator — distinguished as Governor, 
but destined to be still more distinguished as President of the 
Charleston and Ohio Railroad." 

To meet the exigencies of the situation at home, meanwhile, a 
bill had been introduced in the Legislature to allow the Charleston 
and Hamburg Road to increase its rates and to grant certain lots 
in Columbia to that company; but the temper of the Legislature 
seemed to have changed, and was hostile. The bill was laid upon 
the table. Hayne was to have gone to Kentucky to address the 
Legislature of that State in behalf of the banking privileges desired 
for the Southwestern bank ; but with the above action of the South 
Carolina Legislature it was "Resolved: That in the opinion of 
the Board the president could not proceed to Kentucky without 
great prejudice to the interests of the company, and that the presi- 
dent be authorized, in conjunction with the president of the Bank, 
to request C. G. Memminger to proceed to Kentucky, to present 
the petition proposed to the Legislature," ^ 

It is interesting to note that D. E. Huger, so long out of politics, 
on account of his attitude with regard to nullification, now back 
in the State senate, was the mover of the resolution "that R. Y. 
Hayne be invited to a seat in the senate, to give information re- 
specting the bill authorizing a subscription to the South Western 
Bank." ^ The information was given, and all objections to that 
and all other legislation desired for the road seemed to have at once 
vanished. Although the committee of finance of the senate had 
recommended that the bill advocating this subscription be rejected, 
it was promptly agreed to and sent to the House. The guarantee 
of $2,000,000 was made even more liberal in its terms. The 

> Courier, Dec, 11, 1838, ^ Ihid., Dec. 19, 1838, 



KING'S LETTER ON THE BANK ELECTIONS 493 

increased rates asked for and refused were reconsidered and 
granted; the contract made in London confirmed; the vacant 
lots in Columbia desired, granted.^ In spite of the incessant at- 
tacks upon the enterprise, it was held firmly in position by the abil- 
ity of the head. It had weathered storm after storm and survived 
cabal after cabal. After surveys covering some 2000 miles, it was now 
under construction, at the end of two years, with but two, or at the 
most three, instalments, amounting to from 10 to 15 per cent of the 
subscription called for. Finance, tact and eloquence had achieved 
much; but, with delay, interest was, of necessity, running and, 
if the subscribers desired and meant to build the road, something 
more than 10 or 15 per cent of their subscription was necessary. 
And this was the condition as the last year of Hayne's life opened. 
By a narrow margin Memminger had failed to carry the Kentucky 
Legislature for the banking facilities, although by the press his 
oratorical effort was accorded unstinted praise, and Hayne, visiting 
the Southwest for some purpose, not appearing, had, at Jackson, 
Mississippi, explained to the satisfaction of the press of that city 
his attitude on nullification. Returning to South Carolina, he had, 
with Hugh S. Legare, W. C. Preston and others, interested himself 
to revive the Southern Review, and seems to have been placed second 
only to the scholarly Legare in that direction.^ At the banquet 
given in the spring of the year 1839 to the Commercial Convention, 
his name heads the list, and the toast given in compliment to him 
by the delegation from Tennessee indicates how growing was the 
regard felt for him beyond the borders of his native State. John 
H. Crozier of Tennessee, in behalf of the Tennessee delegation on 
that occasion, offered this sentiment : " General Robt. Y. Hayne, 
President Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad: He 
who governs the power of a people to overcome foreign enemies 
deserves their warmest gratitude and lasting remembrance; but 

» Ibid., Dec. 21, 1838. ' Ibid., April 18, 1839. 



494 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

he who superintends the energies of states, to bind kindred spirits 
closer in the bonds of friendship, deserves all that head and heart 
can bestow." ^ 

It is a striking coincidence that in this, the last year of his life, 
when striving to uphold the great railroad to the West, in opposi- 
tion to the view of that great Carolinian, of whose policies in the 
most critical part of his career he, Hayne, had been the warmest 
defender and ablest supporter, discussion should have turned upon 
one of the few acts of his life for which he must be condemned, 
in spite of the loyalty to that leader which it displayed. By the 
merest chance the knowledge was forced upon the public that, had 
Calhoun been willing to take Hayne's view in that instance, much 
that subsequently embittered his own life and interfered with his 
advancement might have been avoided. On account of the com- 
ments of the press at this time concerning his vote against con- 
firming the appointment of Van Buren as Minister to England, 
Hayne was obliged to indicate how faulty Calhoun's political sa- 
gacity had been on that occasion. Alluding to that vote, Benton 
says that Calhoun, who as Vice-President cast the deciding vote, 
declared the rejection would kill Van Buren, while it in reality 
made him Jackson's successor. Hayne's letter shows that he 
thought the opposition unwise, and that it would effect just that, 
but his own statement of the matter should be put before the reader. 
The advocates of Clay and Van Buren for the Presidency were 
quoting him, and it was necessary for him to put the matter straight. 
The following is his letter: "Having withdrawn myself entirely 
from public life and standing aloof from the party contests of the 
day, it is with great reluctance that I find myself constrained to 
notice the allusions in your paper of yesterday to my vote and re- 
marks in the Senate of the United States, on the nomination of Van 
Buren as Minister to England. Your correspondent quotes a part 

' Courier, April 19, 1839. 



KING'S LETTER ON THE BANK ELECTIONS 495 

of my speech on that occasion, in which I stated ' that if I were a 
juror in the box, sworn to give a true verdict on the issue made up 
between Martin Van Buren and his Country, I should feel myself 
constrained to give that verdict against him.' On that you remark 
that * it was party opposition that prompted the proceeding against 
Mr. Van Buren, and to that cause may we ascribe the ferocity of the 
warfare waged against him. To say the least, it was an unwise and 
impolitic warfare, and we know that it was against the judgment 
of one of its distinguished supporters, to whom our correspondent 
alludes. He predicted the result with unerring sagacity; he fore- 
saw that it would be an element of Mr. Van Buren's success, and 
yet the exigencies of party arrayed him in debate against his de- 
liberate judgment.' Without further explanation it might seem 
that I had on this occasion expressed opinions that I did not enter- 
tain and pursued a course which was contrary to my own convic- 
tion of what was right. Now the truth is that the nomination of 
Mr. Van Buren as Minister to England was seized upon as a 
suitable occasion for making up an issue between the two parties 
as to his merits as a member of General Jackson's administration. 
His whole conduct, and especially his instructions to Mr. McLane 
in relation to the West India trade, came up for discussion and for 
condemnation or approval, and the vote was regarded as a test 
question between the parties. In my deliberate judgment it was 
unwise and impolitic in the opposition to make up such an issue on 
the question then before the Senate. I beheved, as it has turned 
out, that the rejection of the nomination would make Mr. Van Buren 
President. My political friends thought otherwise; the issue was 
made up between the parties and Mr. Van Buren put upon his trial. 
Compelled to take ground upon one side or the other of the issue 
thus presented, I acted in conformity with my own convictions 
in giving my verdict against him. The grounds on which I then 
acted are fully explained in the speech delivered by me on that 



y?i 



496 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

occasion. This explanation is due to myself and to the truth of 
the case. In the controversy now going on between the friends of 
Mr. Clay and Mr. Van Buren, I take no part. I am otherwise and, 
I trust, better employed." ^ As has been before pointed out, the 
grounds upon which Hayne had based his vote for rejection, viz. Van 
Buren's responsibility for a breach between Jackson and Calhoun, 
were insufRcient ; but when we realize that Hayne then thought 
the rejection impolitic, while Calhoun, according to Benton, had said 
in his presence : "It will kill him sir; kill him, dead — " ^ the result 
surely should have been something of a lesson to Calhoun as to the 
fallibility of his judgment occasionally; and brought up at this 
time was a powerful argument against his opposition to the French 
Broad route; for it was an illustration of how wrong he could be. 
Unfortunately, with many great and noble qualities, Calhoun had 
the usual failing of a strong mind, a belief in himself which nothing 
could shake. The French Broad was, in his opinion, the wrong 
route, and hence he spared no effort to hamper it, even while 
connected with it. His resignation seems almost to have been 
thought by him sufficient to stop the work; but as it did not, be- 
neath the shelter of his name and fame, enemies again attacked it 
from various quarters. Especially one Brisbane, who had been em- 
ployed at one time by the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston 
Railroad, quotes Calhoun as favoring a junction with Georgia, and 
denounces the French Broad route as "an incubus." In reply to 
him a writer asserted that so far from there being any possibility of 
a junction, that the stockholders of the Athens Road had ordered a 
gauge of two or four inches narrower to prevent it.^ These pieces 
so filled the papers that Hayne felt obliged to enter into some dis- 
cussion of the road prior to the approaching annual meeting. But 
in the meantime it was apparent from other communications that the 

* Courier, April 27, 1839. ^ Benton, "Thirty Years' View," Vol. i, p. 219. 

' Courier, May 21, 1839. 



KING'S LETTER ON THE BANK ELECTIONS 497 

Hamburg Road was not prospering as it should, and the complaint 
was freely made that the charges on handling cotton in Charleston 
were driving trade to Savannah, On only one item did the charge 
for Savannah exceed that stated to be the charge at Charleston, 
viz. insurance 19 cents a bale, while the excess of charges for 
wharfage and drayage made the handling so much more expensive 
for the consignor to Charleston as to have inevitably driven some 
trade away. It is urmecessary to go into the details and accurately 
balance accusation against defence ; it was apparent that there was 
something in the complaints; and so while Charleston was striv- 
ing for direct trade with Europe, and Hayne and his associates 
struggling to push through the great Western Railroad, she was 
failing to use, to the greatest degree, the advantages that she al- 
ready possessed. The picture presented of this far-sighted states- 
man bending every energy to carry through this projected road, to 
secure for his section the market without which their dreams of 
direct trade with Europe would dissolve as a mirage, and those 
whom he strove so earnestly to help permitting this ham-stringing 
process to go on from year to year, is not pleasant. Finally, in 
July, Hayne replied, denying the ''reports most industriously 
circulated, . . . that all idea of pushing the railroad further than 
Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, has been given up." 
Entering into some detail, he showed what had been done. How 
the Charleston and Hamburg Road had been improved, and the 
confident expectation " that under its improved organization the 
future receipts of the road will afford a satisfactory profit on the 
amount invested in it." He stated that the entire 66 miles from 
B ranch ville to Columbia was under contract, and a large part had 
been graded and that it was expected by the winter that the portion 
from Branchville to Orangeburg would be in operation. Two- 
thirds of the price of the Hamburg Road had been paid, and a bank 
established which in six months had paid a dividend of 8 per 

2 K 



498 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



cent ; * while no further instalment would be called for before October. 
Yet in spite of this plain statement, the publications continued, 
until, all out of patience, the Mercury declared it not surprising 
that "a suspicion was entertained by our country friends that 
there is a party in this city who are predetermined not to sufifer 
the road to be carried beyond Columbia." ^ 

' Courier, July 12, 1839. * Mercury, Aug. 16, 1839. 



CHAPTER XI 

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1839. IMPORT 
AND EXPORT TRADE, NORTH AND SOUTH. SOUTH CAROLINA 
AS VIEWED BY HER OWN PRESS. THE SLAVE TRADE 

Before taking up the last act in the life of Hayne and attempting 
a description of the battle which was joined by the representatives 
of the two contending factions of the stockholders, upon the read- 
ing of the president's report of 1839, most fittingly concluded with 
the announcement of his death and the apparent contemporaneous 
collapse of the great enterprise, some consideration of the then 
condition of Charleston and the State whose future was so depend- 
ent upon the success of this project must be attempted. It was 
almost twenty-one years since Hayne had made his great speech 
in the South Carolina Legislature against the unrestricted impor- 
tation of slaves from other States, in opposition to the advocacy 
of the same by McDufiSe. The cultivation of cotton had been 
tremendously increased, and in the year 1838 South Carolina had 
raised for the market 220,000 bales, about one-sixth of the total 
crop. Although of smaller area than either Georgia or Louisiana, 
she had slightly exceeded both, but had been greatly surpassed by 
Mississippi and slightly by Alabama. Of the half million bales 
harvested in the South Atlantic States, Charleston had, through 
the Charleston and Hamburg Road, the best facilities for market- 
ing; but we have seen that there were complaints as to the ex- 
pense of handling, and certainly there was one argument in support 
of this claim hard to brush aside and of profound importance at this 

499 



500 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

juncture. We have seen that the property had been bought at a 
liberal price ; and, without regard to expense where efficiency was 
concerned, had been put in thorough order with the reasonable 
hope of greatly increased freight. In the amount received from 
passenger fares this had been borne out, and the slight excess 
received in the travel one way had been to Charleston. For the 
carriage of United States mail the increase had been 33 per cent, 
and the freight for the half year, out of Charleston, was what could 
have been expected, $59,203.39. But when an examination was 
made of the freight to Charleston, in spite of the magnificent 
cotton crop, there was a most unaccountable falling off, the freight 
to Charleston for the half year amounting only to $17,306.45.* 
Charleston simply was not getting the cotton by the road, if she 
was getting it at all, which was a question, and coupled with the 
complaints of the previous year it looked as if port charges were 
killing the business of the port. 

A consideration of tax returns for the year gives some idea 
of the condition of Charleston, its business and the character 
of its population. The real estate, valued at $13,031,698,^ 
yielded $52,126.79 in the way of tax. Sales amounting in 
the year to $14,114,285 yielded a tax of $28,228. Two hun- 
dred and twenty-three coaches were returned for taxation, and 
each at $25 yielded $5,575. With regard to the less preten- 
tious vehicle of the leisure class, only 74 carriages were returned 
taxed at $12.50 apiece, and bringing in $925; while of the modest 
two-wheeled chairs but 89 were returned, which, taxed at $6 apiece, 
brought in $588. With regard to horse flesh, 793 horses were 
returned for taxation and, taxed without regard to value at $6 
apiece, yielded $4,758. Dogs, however, were returned at differing 
values, 503 at $2 apiece, 46 at $3 apiece and one at $5, a total dog 
tax of $1,149. The slave tax yielded $26,548, 446 being taxed 

^ Courier, Aug. 14, 1839. ^ Ibid., Aug. 22, 1839. 



TRADE, NORTH AND SOUTH 501 

at $5 apiece, 7,881 at $2.50 apiece and 3,171 at $1.50 apiece. 
Of the free colored persons residing in the city, 445 paid the 
assessed tax on such, 76 mechanics $10 apiece, 44 laborers $8 
apiece and 25 males under eighteen years of age $5 apiece. In 
addition to this, 242 described only as free persons of color, over 
eighteen years of age, were taxed at $5 apiece, while 40 under 
eighteen paid only $3 apiece. Judging from the number of free 
colored persons residing in the city, some one thousand and 
over must have escaped this tax. The large number of coaches 
should not be considered as simply the ostentatious vehicles of 
the wealthy ; numbers no doubt represented the vehicles of trans- 
portation agencies. In addition to the above, a tax on incomes, 
returned at $910,925, gave $4,554.62. Whatever may be said of 
this ante helium Southern scheme of taxation, in contrast to the 
perniciously deceptive Northern scheme of uniform rate, which 
Reconstruction imposed and short-sighted legislation has retained, 
something like 70 per cent of the taxation was borne by the wealthy. 
Real estate at 4 mills, and slaves on a per capita supphed 60 per 
cent, and articles in their nature pertaining more to luxuries than 
necessities furnished another 10 per cent. Sales at only 2 mills 
yielded about 20 per cent, leaving apparently only about 10 per 
cent to fall upon the humbler classes. If this scheme prevailed 
throughout the South, there is no reason to wonder why the poorer 
classes supported the slave-holders as faithfully as they did. 
With regard to exports, the contention of Hayne and others who 
had fought so valiantly for tariff reform seemed verified in the 
volume which went out from the Southern ports, in 1838, footing 
up in value for South Carolina $11,042,070, surpassed only by 
Louisiana and New York, the total value of exports from the 
South rising to $65,000,000 as against $40,000,000 from the rest 
of the country. The Mississippi gave Louisiana almost half of 
that which went out from the South, and New York's magnificent 



\ 



502 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

canal system was probably the main cause of more than half of 
that passing out there from the North. But when we consider 
the imports, Louisiana, with the Mississippi to help her to more 
than a local market, was the only Southern State the value of whose 
imports, $9,469,808, could compare to that of her Northern 
competitors, and even she fell behind Massachusetts, with her 
$13,300,925, and far below New York, with her immense volume, 
$68,453,206. South Carolina, the second Southern State in this 
list, did not import goods of one-half the value of Maryland, the 
least of Northern importers; while the combined importations of 
Virginia, Georgia and Alabama did not equal that of South Car- 
olina. With the reform of the tariff a flood was pouring in. 
From 1824 to 183 1 the excess of value of imports over exports had 
amounted to $11,000,000; but in the succeeding seven years it 
had increased to $188,000,000,^ bringing about the condi- 
tion of affairs old Charles Pinckney had warned against, in 1819, 
when he had declared in Congress that a country mainly agricul- 
tural, and without mines of the precious metals, could not have 
its imports greatly in excess of exports without financial disaster. 
Of all the Southern statesmen striving to assist their section, none 
seemed to appreciate this, and none as clearly as Hayne, the other 
truth, that without more than a local market the volume of imports 
could not grow with the exports; but in addition he had also 
pointed out the supreme necessity of meeting the effects of the 
wasteful cultivation and speedily worn-out lands, incidental to 
slave labor, with some other mode of utilizing capital and afford- 
ing employment to retain population, drifting away. The State 
censuses of Georgia and South Carolina of this year proved his 
claim only too truly, that the ordinary individual will not bother 
with the slow process of renovating exhausted land, when fresh 
virgin soil is in easy reach. While the white population of Georgia 

^ Courier, Oct. 18, 1839. 




TRADE, NORTH AND SOUTH 503 

had increased over 200,000, that of South CaroHna in the same 
time had only risen 6,236. The emigration he spoke of was pro- 
ceeding steadily, and probably, as is usually the case, taking oil 
the most virile. The people of South Carolina were still a brave, 
hio^h-toned, honorable population in the main ; but there seems to 
have been some evidence that they were not of as strong a fibre as 
they apparently had been prior to and just after the War of 1812. 
They seemed to have lost some elements of strength which the 
people of the States on either side of them seemed in a greater 
measure to have retained. Considering the w^ealth of Charleston, 
the inhabitants, in the opinion of the local press, had not made the 
efforts in behalf of their railroad which the smaller town of Wil- 
mington had for theirs. The two morning papers of Charleston 
were fine representatives of the journalism of the day. They criti- 
cised their constituency, and did it intelligently and patriotically 
in the effort to arouse the people. While giving a fair hearing to 
both sides in the controversy now raging over the great Western 
Road, they pointed out that Wilmington, while much smaller and 
poorer, was making an effort (out of all proportion to that which 
Charleston was making for the Louisville and Cincinnati Road) 
in behalf of the Wilmington, Roanoke and Charleston Railroad, 
of which 130 miles had been completed, and so (while unnoticed), 
with the connection with Northern lines, a still stronger hold on 
importation would be secured by the Northern ports. Com- 
menting on the formation of the Georgia Historical Society, under 
the presidency of the Honorable John M. Berrien, the Courier in- 
quired, "Would not our city do well to follow the example of her 
Southern sister? " But the frank criticism which follows involves 
much more than a question confined to literature or history. 
Says that paper: "We are sadly deficient in hterary spirit and 
enterprise, and lack steadiness of purpose in support of institutions 
for the encouragement and diffusion of literature and art. Our 



504 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



Academy of Arts has long since had its obituary written, and its 
successor, the Academy of Art and Design has, we fear, perished 
in its birth. Our Literary and Philosophical Society and our 
noble Charleston Library are dragging out a languishing existence. 
Our Southern Literary Journal has gone to the tomb of the Capu- 
lets, etc." ^ 

Without possibly any bearing on this, or probably involving the 
Northern as much as the Southern merchants in whatever of con- 
demnation was due, nevertheless, the same issue of the paper 
published an extract from the New York Journal of Commerce 
to the effect that twenty-three vessels, under the American flag, 
had sailed about that time from Havana on the slave trade. 

It has been shown that the very day following his last letter to 
Hayne wishing the road and himself "great success," Calhoun had 
expressed the hope to one interested in another route that within 
a year "the infatuation in favor of the French Broad route" might 
have weakened sufficiently to allow that " the move you desire may 
be made with advantage," and expressed his belief that that "in 
time would be the great route." This did not prevent him from 
expressing the opinion some months later with regard to the Georgia 
road system, that it opened to the States as high up as Illinois 
"the cheapest and safest route at all seasons, not only to the 
Atlantic portion of the Union, but also to the general markets of 
the world." ^ If the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Road 
could ever push through North Carolina to Tennessee, it therefore 
appeared that Calhoun's reputation as an adviser in matters in- 
dustrial would be practically destroyed; for he had put himself 
in absolute opposition to it, and, with anything like success for it, 
there would be inevitably a loss of prestige to him who had fought 
it so continuously. 



* Courier, Aug. 27, 1839, 



3 « 



Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 430. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE LAST MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE LOUISVILLE, 
CINCINNATI AND CHARLESTON RAILROAD WHICH HAYNE AT- 
TENDED. THE CONTEST AT THE MEETING 

On September i6, 1839, the last meeting of the stockholders of 
the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad Company, 
at which Hayne was present, was held at Asheville, North Car- 
olina. He was then suffering with fever, with which he had been 
stricken the day previous, and which the stormy meeting aggra- 
vated. His third annual report was described as an able and 
elaborate document, exhibiting the transactions of the company 
for the past year, the progress of the construction of the road be- 
tween Branchville and Columbia and the success of the surveys 
between Columbia and Butt Mountain, with a view of the proposed 
location of the route, should it be deemed advisable by the stock- 
holders.^ Maps and profiles of all routes from Columbia to the 
mountains were also exhibited by the chief engineer, Major 
McNeill, which reflected much credit on engineers Cheeseborough 
and Scott, employed in that special capacity. From the outset it 
was apparent that there was an acute difference of opinion ; but 
from the newspaper reports of the day it is difficult to locate the 
position of all the many speakers with exactness. The debate 
was spirited and at times acrimonious, and after Hayne's with- 
drawal, after the first day, on account of his increased iUness, 
it raged with but little intermission for two or three days. As 

» Courier, Sept. 19, 1839, et seq. 
505 



5o6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

well as can be gathered from the rather disjointed account, Colonel 
Gadsden led the assault, and Mr. Alfred Huger as unreservedly 
defended the course of the company. Judge D. E. Huger de- 
fended the action of the company also, but in a more apologetic 
tone, and Vardry McBee of Greenville, and Clingman of North 
Carolina, were on the same side. Mr. C. G. Memminger, although 
in the past somewhat closely identified with the work, seems to 
have been more of a critic than a defender. I. E. Holmes appears 
to have attacked, while Elmore and Mitchell King defended; 
but what was the position of Henry A. Middleton, personally 
very close to Hayne, is difficult to gather from the newspaper 
comment. 

On the convening of the meeting, Joseph Carson of Ruther- 
fordton. North Carolina, was called to the chair, Vardry McBee, 
of Greenville, South Carolina, was put at the head of the committee 
to verify proxies, and on motion of Congressman I. E. Holmes 
of Charleston District, the president's report was referred to a 
committee. Mr. Holmes stated that he represented a large pro- 
portion of the stock held in Charleston, was in favor of a thorough 
investigation and for going on with the enterprise, if it was found 
consistent with the honor and interest of all concerned, but was 
desirous of suspension of the work, if necessary, to avoid bank- 
ruptcy and ruin. As to the constitution of the committee, he dif- 
fered with Judge Huger, who declared great differences of opin- 
ion existed, and v^^ho stated that he favored proceeding formally, 
in order to allay excitement; he therefore opposed the motion to 
refer the whole report and all papers to one committee. The 
president, on request, then entered into explanations with regard 
to some of the principal items, and Major McNeill, the chief en- 
gineer, being called upon for an explanation why the cost of the 
road above Columbia was by estimate less than below, his replies 
seem to have been accepted as reasonable. On further inquiry, 



LAST MEETING OF HAYNE WITH STOCKHOLDERS 507 

the president stated that there had as yet been no forfeiture of 
stock for non-payment; that subscriptions out of the State were 
so far only available for surveys ; that the purchase of the Hamburg 
Road had entailed an expenditure of $2,800,000; that the company 
had no pledge of any further contribution from North Carolina 
in the event of the road being extended to the State line, and de- 
pended upon the good-will and grant of banking privileges from 
that State. The engineers estimated the cost of the road from the 
State line to Knoxville to be about $4,000,000. This ended the 
first day, the correspondent of the Courier, in conclusion, stating 
that some sixty or seventy persons were in attendance, and some 
anxiety felt at first that the road west of Columbia would be aban- 
doned ; but that, at the close of that day, the friends of the road had 
acquired more confidence.^ On the 17th the meeting reconvened, 
and McBee reported 56,929 shares represented. Clingman moved 
now the reference of the president's report, with all accompanying 
documents, to a committee of thirteen, with power to call officers 
before them and examine them upon the various matters. Judge 
Huger seems again to have opposed the reference of everything to 
the same committee. Clingman's motion seems, however, to have 
prevailed; and yet he was not of the committee, which consisted 
of D. E. Huger, Blake, Middleton, Er\dn, Daniel Campbell, 
Holmes, Alfred Huger, Robertson, Earle, Memminger, Woodfine, 
Gadsden and McBee. Apart from a description of the president's 
report, which states that it was able and elaborate, recommended 
economy and a single-track railroad with turnouts every five or 
six miles, nothing is obtainable, and as a part only of the report 
of the committee of thirteen ever saw the light, the investigator 
must pick his way with caution. The committee of thirteen 
seems to have been divided into sub-committees, thereby bringing 
about what Judge Huger was contending for, and to him had been 

* Courier, Sept. 21, 1839. 



5o8 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



assigned the preparation of a general report for the committee, 
which seemed to have been in the nature of an adjustment or 
compromise between the warring elements. It disclosed that 
the company had to find $1,500,000 in twelve months. He stated 
that inasmuch as the property of the country at the inception of 
the project had been worth double what it was at the time he 
was speaking, and the country had been agitated by the revulsion 
from one end to the other, it was surprising to him that the com- 
pany had accomplished as much as it appeared it had, and that 
as an American, a Carolinian and a Southern man, he hoped the 
work would ultimately be carried through, as he considered it 
the greatest ever attempted in any nation. Apparently at least 
two reports from the sub-committees were before the meeting, 
and it would appear from that of which C. G. Memminger 
was chairman, after several subsequent corrections in subse- 
quent publications,^ that the sum total of the three instal- 
ments, 15 per cent of the subscription collected, amounted to 
$787,503, to which was added $10,000 from the earnings of the 
Hamburg Road, and $2,217,227 borrowed from the banks of the 
city of Charleston and obtained by sale of bonds guaranteed by 
the State. In the three years in which the enterprise had been 
pushed, there had been expended for the engineer's department, 
for surveys, instruments, office expenses, salaries and contingencies, 
$265,751. On account of purchase of the Hamburg Road there 
had been paid $1,590,160 principal and $54,354 interest, and 
$214,528 expended in repairs and improvement. That on the 
construction of the road from Branchville to Columbia, $328,704 
had been paid out for work and $2,803 to secure rights of way. 
That for the negotiation of the European loan by which the com- 
pany had received $1,383,629, the agent had been paid $20,336. 
That a dividend amounting to $10,336 had been paid, and $13,825 

' Courier, Oct. 8, 22, 1839. 



LAST MEETING OF HAYNE WITH STOCKHOLDERS 509 

refunded the stockholders of the Hamburg Road, and one-half of 
the amount loaned by the Charleston banks for purchase of the Ham- 
burg Road, $377,656, had been repaid. That there was due and 
payable still on the Hamburg Road $795,000, which had to be met 
in three months, with interest charges on this and other accounts 
amounting to $111,300. That there was due the Charleston 
banks $344,000: for iron, $255,000; and for construction account 
under contract, $552,696; and to the banks of Columbia, $40,000. 
It was estimated that on the semi-annual interest payments for the 
$2,000,000 bond guarantee, shares not yet secured from the Charles- 
ton and Hamburg stockholders, engineers' department and salaries, 
there would be due $144,776; and to complete the road to Colum- 
bia, m addition to outstanding contracts, $584,304. The resources 
of the company, cash in hand and bonds guaranteed by the State, 
were put at $715,821, under which, however, $41,516 was not 
available for work in South Carohna. By estimating $210,000 
as the response, seven instalments would be necessary to meet 
existing engagements, and three more, which thirteen is mistakenly 
called a total of eleven, to carry the road to Columbia. But to offset 
this, the thirteen, at $5, are described as representing $75, when 
they only represented $65, and the claim, therefore, at the end of 
this report that it establishes the proposition that 75 per cent of 
the subscription was necessary to complete the road to Columbia, 
is not borne out by the figures. As, in the opinion of Mr. 
Memminger, in the condition of the country, it would be vain 
to call for these instalments, his advice was to borrow the neces- 
sary amount and press on the work to Columbia. In conclusion, 
the report says : "Your committee have deemed it their duty thus to 
spread before you as full and clear a view of the premises as their 
limited time would permit. It is more than probable that some 
errors may be found in the statements so hurriedly prepared 
from the imperfect material in their reach; at all events, they trust 



5IO ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

they will at least tend to a more thorough understanding of the 
affairs of the company." While this was a very frank admission, 
the report, in spite of all subsequent corrections, was injurious 
and misleading. Instead of leaving only $1,050,000 of stock not 
called for, with the road completed to Columbia, on his basis of 
calculation, it really seems to leave $1,470,000, with the earnings 
of the completed road running from Augusta and Columbia to 
Charleston, to supply the estimated $310,000 additional needed 
to carry it to the North Carolina line. But why was 42,750 made 
the basis of the shares held in South Carolina, when the South 
Carolina subscriptions totalled 60,000? It may have been entirely 
the hard times which had caused the stockholders to become 
delinquent in their third payment to the degree which appeared; 
but when we realize, as an inspection of the statement reveals, 
that, although the hard times had arrived, between the first and 
second instalment the South CaroHna stockholders had subscribed 
for and paid for the second instalment, on over a million ad- 
ditional shares, there is some reason to suspect, as the Mercury 
had charged, that there was a party who were "predetermined not 
to suffer the road to be carried beyond Columbia." It must be 
admitted, in all fairness to the South Carolinians, that the effort 
or lack of effort in behalf of the road outside the State of South 
Carolina was calculated to dishearten its supporters. The Ken- 
tucky subscribers had not paid but the first instalment, while the 
response of North Carolina had shrunk more than 50 per cent from 
the first to the third instalment; yet South Carolina had under- 
taken the project, with the full knowledge of this lukewarm 
interest, and to her the road was of more vital interest. 

There seems to have been at least 10,000 shares represented at 
the meeting, which had not paid the third instalment, yet the 
meeting was in a captious mood. Criticism was directed against 
the contracts given to planters to be executed with slave labor. 



LAST MEETING OF HAYNE WITH STOCKHOLDERS 511 

Why, it was asked, had not this work been given to Northern 
contractors, who had offered to execute it at a price i2| to 15 per 
cent cheaper? The answer was comprehensive. The planters 
objected to imported free labor being brought into contact with 
their slaves. This was unfortunate; but the company could not 
antagonize an element which practically controlled the State ; and, 
in addition, they had in many instances given the right of way. 
But further still, when the chief engineer obtained the floor, he 
challenged the correctness of the charge. Finally, a preamble and 
resolutions were offered, which, reciting the disturbed condition 
of the country, declared, without the united assistance of the States, 
through whose territories the road was to pass, the work could 
not be accomplished, and, unless they cooperated, the company 
would be unable to progress with the enterprise, and the debate 
then became very animated. Judge Huger was desirous that facts 
not in the reports should also be known by the public. Mr. Cling- 
man proposed that both reports should be laid upon the table, as 
otherwise, he said, he would be called upon to vote regarding facts 
he did not understand concerning the statement of which it was 
admitted there were errors and different opinions. Mr. Holmes 
hoped both reports would be published. Mr. Clingman pointed 
out that the engineer had recommended Branchville as a proper 
place for junction with the Hamburg Road, and that the president 
and directors had adopted it; but that one of the reports stated 
that another point would have been better. This brought Colonel 
Gadsden to his feet in advocacy of the adoption of that report, 
although he thought too much had been published. He said 
much would come before the directors, as they had investigations 
to make and errors to correct which ought not to be published, 
the resolutions being all that it was needed to have published. 
Continuing, he declared that if there were errors in the report, 
if gentlemen would point them out, he would correct them. He 



512 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

claimed he had long seen the difficulties of the company, and he 
did not believe it had the means, unless the State would furnish 
them. Mr. Clingman moved to table both reports, to avoid 
further discussion. Judge Huger observed that the reports had 
been read and resolutions agreed to. He regretted any misunder- 
standing. Mr. Alfred Huger said he was displeased in part with 
both reports and had reserved the right to dissent from both. In 
doing so, he felt he was in the performance of a duty to the nation, 
if not to the world. He had ventured in the enterprise his char- 
acter and a part of his property. He believed the locomotive the 
greatest of agents in the promotion of security and civilization. 
It was impossible that in such a stupendous work some errors 
should not occur; they were incidental to the very nature of the 
work. He was in favor of laying both reports upon the table, as 
best calculated to preserve harmony. Mr. Memminger said, if 
there were any good reasons, he was willing that the reports should 
not be published; if there were errors, he would correct them; 
the facts, however, were necessary for all interested — for the public 
and the State. Mr. Middleton said, gentlemen had admitted that 
errors were inseparable from such work, but yet were unwilling 
that a report should candidly publish them. He was willing that 
any errors should be corrected, but thought that candid statements 
of the errors of the company or its agents should be made. Colonel 
Gadsden claimed that the contracts below Columbia had been 
too high ; that the directors ought not to have given planters more 
than Northern contractors would have worked for. He suggested 
that transcripts of the reports might be sent to the Legislature 
without sending the whole. He thought the salaries of the en- 
gineers too high; he asserted that $210,000 had been spent in 
that department ; but while that was the case, the report had com- 
plimented the engineers. Messrs. Huger and Clingman pressed 
their motion to table, but it was negatived. Finally, on the third 



LAST MEETING OF HAYNE WITH STOCKHOLDERS 513 

day of the meeting, after "considerable sparring," * it was decided, 
on motion of Mitchell King, that so much of the report of the 
committee of 13 as related to surveys between Branchville and 
Columbia be struck out, and on motion of Judge Huger, that the 
report be laid on the table; that 500 copies of the director's report, 
with the accompanying reports of chief and resident engineers, 
and those parts of the reports of the committee of 13 which related 
to the finances and the proceedings of the convention, be printed 
under the direction of the president and directors. The president 
and board were given wide discretion to do what they could 
to press on the work as economically as possible below Columbia 
and, in the last resort, to appeal to the State to enable them to 
make the last payment for the Hamburg Road. It was also decided 
to meet again on December 4, at Columbia. A letter from the cor- 
respondent of the Courier throws a little more light on the meet- 
ing, and contains an allusion which is pregnant with suggestion 
of an inpiration otherwise not touched upon. "We have just 
closed a most interesting meeting of the stockholders of the Louis- 
ville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad, from which, no doubt, 
great good in the future management of the concern will arise. 
We have resolved to suspend all surveys and operations beyond 
Columbia, and to limit, for the present, the work on the road to 
that place consistently with our means and existing contracts. 
There will be an adjourned meeting of the stockholders on the 4th 
of December at Columbia, where measures will be adopted, with 
the assistance of the Legislature, to meet all the obligations growing 
out of the purchase of the Hamburg Road, which, however wise 
as a measure, has unquestionably deranged our finances; as 
the purchase was approved, however, by the State it is not to be 
doubted (she being a party largely interested in the compact) 
that she will furnish the aid necessary to the consummation. We 

* Courier, Sept. 19, 1839. 

2 L 






514 



ROBERT Y. HAYNE 



should progress much more harmoniously in our operations and 
with a more single eye to the success of our objects, if politics had 
not insinuated itself into all of our proceedings; and a spectator 
present at our deliberations and investigations would have im- 
agined our simple meeting of stockholders a Legislative body 
settling and adjusting all the conflicting interests of a political 
community, with all the out-door and lobby influences distinctly 
distinguishing such legislation. If it be important to separate 
Banks from State, it is equally important to separate politics and 
its undercurrent from the concerns of such a corporation as the 
Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad Company. Their 
object is to build a road in the cheapest and most durable manner 
and, in the employment of competent engineers, agents, contrac- 
tors, etc., these considerations must govern, or the president and 
directors must be regardless of their responsibilities. To them 
alone we must look, and the basis on which the stockholders have 
now placed it will now make that body and its head more sensible 
of the fact that in them alone we confide.^" 

* Courier, Sept. 21, 1839. 



CHAPTER XIII 

hayne's death and the comments of his contemporaries 

THEREON 

Five days after the adjournment of this meeting, Hayne died of 
the fever which had gripped him the day before the gathering to- 
gether of the opposing forces. The announcement of his death 
was conveyed to the Courier in a letter from Major McNeill, which 
stated, "He was almost to the last moment perfectly sensible of 
his approaching end, and yielded to his destiny with that Christian 
and becoming fortitude which throughout life characterized him." 
In the same letter was conveyed the information that the pall- 
bearers were Major McNeill, Count de Choiseul, Frederick Rut- 
ledge, Honorable D. E. Huger,Mr. Ogilbyand Henry A. Middleton. 
With the family were Judge Cheves, Mitchell King, Mr. Edwards, 
the treasurer of the company, E. Cheeseborough, resident engineer, 
and Messrs. Lowndes and Blake. Thus passed away, in his forty- 
seventh year, the only man who, since the death of William 
Lowndes, was strong enough before the South Carolina public 
to hope for any success when differing from Calhoun. The an- 
nouncement of his death was made in Charleston, on September 
30, and in the Courier of that date appeared a moving tribute to 
his hold upon all classes of the community. Opposed to him dur- 
ing nullification, that paper, nevertheless, declared, "At an early 
age he was borne into public life, on a flood tide of popular favor, 
and retained it, without ebb or abatement, to the hour of his 
death." Speaking of the great railroad project, it said : " It was in 

515 



5i6 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

upholding the interests of this noble undertaking, once so fair in 
its promise of a glorious destiny to his cherished and cherishing 
city, but now tottering under the pressure of the monied em- 
barrassments of the civilized world, that he encountered the fatal 
disease which has consigned him to a grave in a strange land." ^ 
Space does not permit of more from this heartfelt eulogy which 
was an epitome of his career, but mention must be made of some 
other comments. James L. Petigru, his most brilliant opponent 
during the nullification episode, wrote to a friend under the same 
date: "The death of General Hayne has cast a gloom upon the 
situation of our affairs. His loss is as deeply felt as that of any 
person in our community could have been, perhaps more generally 
than that of any other man. He was not quite 48 years of age, and 
had the most uninterrupted career of success which any person in 
my time has enjoyed." ^ The Pendleton Messenger declared his 
death to be "a great public calamity." ^ The Columbia Temper- 
ance Advocate said, "He reflected back upon his country the 
honors she so freely gave him." The Columbia Telescope, in a 
more critical review, stated : " His talents were not of that intense 
brilliancy which too often dazzles rather than guides, an ex- 
cellent judgment stamping his opinions with the impress of 
usefulness and practicability. As a speaker, without perhaps 
the power of rising to the sublimest heights of oratory, he was 
always pleasing, copious, persuasive and full of his subject. In 
person he was graceful and in manners agreeable. His public 
and private life were both without reproach. His devotion to his 
state was incorruptible." ^ The Norfolk, Virginia, Beacon said 
of him, "There was nothing little about him — he would not 
turn on his heel to secure the highest political office of the Fed- 

• Courier, Sept. 30, 1839. 

' News & Courier, Feb. 11, 1900. Life of James L. Petigru. 

^ Courier, Oct. 5, 1839. •• Ibid., Oct. 7, 1839. 



HAYNE'S DEATH 



517 



eral Government," and of his proclamation, in response to that 
of Jackson, it declared: "A more able and eloquent paper was 
never issued by any statesman of our times. . . . And in the 
last great cause to which he devoted his talents, what tongue can 
tell the value of his services and his name ? He may be said to have 
fallen a martyr to the cause. . . . The South will mourn in his 
death the loss of one of her most useful citizens, one of her most 
eminent statesman, one of her purest patriots." ^ The St. Au- 
gustine News declared that "to South Carolina his loss was 
irreparable and to the nation a calamity." ^ B, F. Porter of 
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in a most eloquent tribute to the dead 
Carolinian, at a public meeting of citizens at that place to express 
their sentiments, declared, "He was the Bayard of his age, and 
lived without fear, as he died without reproach." ^ But perhaps 
the most fitting allusion to Hayne's death was that which was pro- 
nounced by the Honorable Thomas Butler King of Georgia, at the 
close of the Merchants' and Planters' Convention at Macon, Georgia. 
Senator King said: "I cannot, in justice to my own feelings or to 
this convention, withhold the expression of an opinion that it is a 
duty we owe to ourselves and to our country to pay a melancholy 
tribute of respect to the memory of one who, were he in life, I am 
sure would be among us, imparting to our counsels the mature 
wisdom of his unrivalled intellect and the ardor of his exalted 
patriotism; but he is gone; 'the silver cord is broken,' and his pura 
spirit has returned to God who gave it. It is, I am sure, not neces- 
sary for me to say that I allude to the late General Robert Y. 
Hayne, the fearless and talented defender of Southern prin- 
ciples and Southern rights; the untiring promotor of Southern 
interests; the unwavering patriot and devoted friend. In all that 
concerned our prosperity, our happiness and our liberty, his bright 

» Ibid., Oct. 7, 1839. » Ibid., Oct. 21, 1839. 

» Ibid., Oct. 25, 1839. 



5i8 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

genius and ardent patriotism placed him among the foremost of the 
gallant leaders in our land. But, sir, he has fallen, and I doubt not, 
as he ever wished to fall, in the cause of his country. Not, it is true, 
on the battle-field ; but in the faithful discharge of those arduous 
civil duties which, while they characterize the true patriot, are 
calculated to elevate his country to the highest pitch of prosperity 
and renown." ^ Such was the language of those who from time 
to time at various periods of his life had been thrown into contact 
with Hayne not of the closest; yet one cannot fail to note how 
spontaneous seem to be the tributes to his lofty qualities of mind 
and heart. But those closer to him seem to have rated him even 
higher, and the preamble and resolutions passed by the Board of 
Directors of the great railroad enterprise, at the head of which he 
had been placed, men fitly representative of different parts of South 
Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, indicate 
in their expressions the profound impression he had made upon 
them. But before reciting them it should be mentioned that, upon 
the announcement of his death, at a meeting of the City Council of 
Charleston, it was decided to raise a monument to him in the city 
square.^ Committees were appointed, and $ioo appropriated 
for the best plan of same, approved by the committees. Ward 
committees were appointed to collect contributions, and the City 
Treasurer was ordered to receive deposits and keep a separate 
account of same. 

The preamble and resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors 
of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad at Asheville, 
a week after Hayne's death, were lengthy, and highly eulogistic of 
his entire career ; but it almost seemed as if, in the portion bearing 

^ Macon (Ga.) Messenger, Nov. 19, 1839. 

^ Courier, Oct. 3, 1839. 

The comment of the Richmond Whig on Hayne's death was: "In his death 
the whole country has cause for sorrow, for every part of it has sustained a loss. 
He was emphatically a great and good man." Quoted by Courier, Oct. 5, 1839. 



I 



HAYNE'S DEATH 519 

upon his connection with the company, that they had deemed it 
necessary to go into detail for some purpose, and that portion of the 
paper should appear, as it is the positive statement of men connected 
with him and best able to testify to his work. The preamble re- 
cites: "When the plans to unite the Southern Atlantic Seaboard 
with the far West by an extended line of Railroad first attracted 
general attention in South Carolina, he took the lead in promoting 
it, and by his high authority and enlarged views and powerful elo- 
quence contributed much to secure to it the support of the people 
of that State. At Knoxville, in 1836, at the most numerous con- 
vention it is believed ever held in the South, he was, by the unani- 
mous voice of all the States there represented, called to preside over 
its deliberations, and he performed the duties of the office in a 
manner to command universal approbation and respect. When 
public opinion had determined to carry the plan into execution, he 
assisted largely in devising and obtaining the charters under which 
it was proposed to be effected and under which we are now acting. 
And when the charter was obtained from the four States through 
whose territories it is intended the road shall pass, the stockholders, 
with perhaps unexampled unanimity, without one dissenting voice 
called on him to conduct the undertaking. Without undervaluing 
the abilities of any other of the stockholders, it is firmly believed 
that no other individual was so well qualified for the situation. 
A life of the highest public service, firm, consistent and liberal, 
without fear and without reproach, had won for him not only the 
entire confidence of his native State but of the Nation. His name 
had crossed the Atlantic. He had a European reputation. His 
standing gave character to our enterprise. It was a bond, a 
guarantee, not only to the practicability of our undertaking, but 
that it would be completed and raised, and sustained our credit 
both at home and abroad. He gave himself faithfully to the office. 
He devoted to it all the energies of his mind. He conducted its 



520 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

affairs with the soundest discretion and the greatest ability amid 
difficulties and obstacles and discouragements of no ordinary 
magnitude, almost necessarily attendant in a country like ours on 
every great work. He held the unvaried tenor of his way and never 
faltered. He was equal to every emergency, and was in truth the 
life and soul of the company. In the Legislature of his own 
State, his well-deserved influence, his comprehensive and convincing 
reasoning, his manly and persuasive eloquence and the thorough de- 
pendence of every hearer on his inflexible integrity and stainless 
honor carried us triumphantly through the most threatening trials. 
The same high qualities won from Tennessee a generous pledge of 
hearty cooperation, and in North Carolina and Kentucky were uni- 
versally admired, respected and trusted. . . . He shrunk from 
no responsibility. No opposition, no perverseness in others ever 
exhausted his patience or delayed him in the performance of a duty. 
His judgment was active, discriminating and accurate. His direc- 
tions were always clear and precise. He had accumulated a fund 
of information on the subject of railroads and all their incidents, 
and was daily adding to it. His reports and addresses to the 
stockholders, and his expositions from time to time to the Board 
display the utmost industry, much knowledge, the soundest views 
and the greatest candor. He conceals no difficulties, he slurs 
over no embarrassments, he encourages no unfounded hopes, he 
presents everything fully and fairly without exaggeration or extenua- 
tion as it appears to his comprehensive mind. To him the stock- 
holders and their Board and the whole community mainly looked 
to consummate the work in which he was engaged and, had he been 
spared, if it be in the power of man, as we trust it is, he would have 
accomplished it. He has fallen at his post, in the faithful discharge 
of his duty, in the midst of his youth and strength, crowned with 
honor, universally lamented, leaving to his country a name that will 
adorn her annals. ..." The resolutions which followed declared 



HAYNE'S DEATH 521 

that the death of Hayne was the "greatest calamity which could 
have happened to the company." * Having considered these ex- 
pressions of opinion concerning the dead statesman, we are in a 
position to analyze the emotions, so far as they found expression in 
the words of his great leader, of whom Benton tells us he was, in the 
great debate with Webster, "the sword and shield"; to whom he 
had practically surrendered his seat in the United States Senate, 
in order to carry through nullification, in the most exposed and 
dangerous position which a follower of Calhoun could occupy. 
It will be remembered that Calhoun, in the previous year, in at- 
tempting to justify his withdrawal, had reiterated Hayne's ex- 
pressed sentiments with the declaration, "You cannot possibly feel 
more pain in differing from me than I do in differing from you," 
and, although in response to Hayne's appeal for support, in addition 
to his arguments, on the ground of their past close personal and 
political relations, he had simply stated that he could not "see 
in any of the considerations " which his correspondent suggested 
"reasons to change," he had assured the latter that, in spite of his 
withdrawal, "should the work go on, I shall wish both you and it 
great success." This cordial expression of good- will, it is true, 
had not prevented Calhoun, within twenty-four hours of its dec- 
laration, from characterizing the work, to one interested in a 
rival enterprise, as "a mad project," to oppose which, "the in- 
fatuation in favor of," was "yet too strong"; but to encourage 
him in the belief that it was "daily giving way" and "in a year 
the move that you desire may be made with advantage " ; but in 
spite of the guerilla warfare waged against it, the work had gone 
on, and at the conclusion of the year a determined assault upon the 
enterprise had been made by as capable men as could be found to 
lead it ; this assault, however, had not succeeded in completely 
overthrowing it, and the main battle had still to be waged at 

* Courier, Oct. 24, 1839. 



522 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Columbia, on December 4. Yet, we may say that nothing short of 
a resurrection could save the company; for, in the words of the 
Board of Direction, '' the hfe and soul of the enterprise lay dead 
at Asheville." What were Calhoun's comments on the death of 
this man, so closely allied with him for ten years in Washington, 
and who had surpassed all who had ever come in contact with the 
great Carolinian, in devoted service ? Here is his letter, on hearing 
the news, written to his most intimate correspondent, the man to 
whom, of all men, he most opened his heart, and with whom he was 
on such terms of intimacy that he did not hesitate to appeal to, 
to help him influence his (Calhoun's) wife, that correspondent's 
sister. The letter is addressed to James Edward Calhoun, from 
Carters, near Fort Hill, October 5, 1839. " My dear Sir : The death 
of Genl. Hayne and Col. Blanding are really surprising events, under 
the circumstances under which they occurred, and are destined to ef- 
fect a great change in the .system with which they were so closely 
identified. I agree with you that our course, and mine in particular, 
should be cautious and mute. My impression is decidedly that 
the stockholders ought to place Col. Gadsden at the head of their 
affairs, which I understand are in a deplorable condition. I infer 
that the road cannot reach even Columbia without the aid of the 
State to the amount of nearly a million. The true policy of the 
Company, it seems to me, at this juncture, is to stop all operations 
forthwith beyond Columbia and to reduce their operations even to 
that point, for the present, to the smallest scale. If this should 
be done, and I think necessity must enforce it, it seems to me clear 
that, for the present at least, the two presidencies, that of the bank 
and road, ought to be united in the same individual. I feel con- 
fident a man of business such as Col. Gadsden could easily perform 
both, and that their union would not only be a great saving, but 
would, in the deranged state of the affairs of the company, be the 
most effectual step to restore order and give a new energy to its 



HAYNE'S DEATH 523 

action. He unites the requisite qualities for each, and is the only 
individual that I know that does. The election to fill Blandin^'s 
place will, I suppose, first come on; it would be best to say nothino- 
about that of Hayne's till after that is over. When that comes 
on, which I suppose will not be till the convention meets at Colum- 
bia, there will not, I think, be any difficulty to elect him to fill it. 
The main point is to get a full proxy from Abbeville and Edgefield 
to be placed in safe hands. The latter should be carefully guarded, 
and you can do much to effect both. No one could represent the 
interests of the two Districts better than yourself. The only objec- 
tion I see is your near connection with myself, but I do now know 
that it ought to have much weight. Now is the time to put the 
affairs of the company right. . . ." * 

The first impression produced by the perusal of this letter is the 
utter lack of feeling. This may not have been unnatural, as far 
as it related to Blanding; but the contrast between it and the 
phrases in which Calhoun denied his help to that man who had so 
loyally supported him for ten long years, "I shall ever remember 
the important scenes in which we have acted together, with pleas- 
ure, and the important service which you have rendered the State 
and the Union," is striking. But yet still more unpleasant is the 
recognition of the wisdom of the advice that, while comparative 
strangers were sounding the praises of the dead Carolinian, it was 
best that he, who had received from Hayne the greatest service, 
should "be cautious and mute." But what can be said in explana- 
tion of the expressed advocacy of Gadsden for the presidency of 
both bank and road, when we recollect that not a year had elapsed 
since Calhoun had written Hayne, in defence of his withdrawal 
from the enterprise, "one of my objections to the route was that 
it could not sustain itself by its own advantages, without the arti- 
ficial aid of the bank, to which I was opposed, among other 

* "Calhoun's Correspondence," pp. 431-432. 



524 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

grounds, because the union of the two powers in the same company, 
that over the currency and intercourse of the country, would be 
dangerous to our free institutions, in which pray I may be de- 
ceived." 

Ought these facts to be ignored ? Have they not some bearing 
on the question regarding the course of these two influential men 
in relation to this matter so closely concerning the welfare of the 
State and the reputation of the two themselves ? Suppose one has 
risen to a monumental height and the fame of the other has 
been obscured by a belief that the scheme which the greater figure 
had opposed so relentlessly was visionary, is that any reason for 
suppressing the truth ? Calhoun admits, in his reply to Hayne, that 
the argument of the latter concerning the route of the French 
Broad being the only one which could command a majority of the 
Legislature in favor of the railroad bank charter, is a strong con- 
sideration; but declares that one of his reasons for opposing the 
route was that the union of the two powers in the same company, 
"currency and intercourse," would be "dangerous to our free in- 
stitutions," which fear seems to have so possessed the stockholders 
of the bank that they not only voted down the report of the 
committee uniting the two offices in Hayne, but kept him even off 
the management of the bank as a director, while other directors of 
the road went on; but immediately upon Hayne's death, Calhoun 
presses for that very union which he had declared he believed 
"dangerous to our free institutions." Do we not recognize in this 
that the real difficulty was that Calhoun could never follow and 
must always lead, and that which was advocated by another was 
dangerous, while, when advocated by himself, perfectly legitimate ? 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE SHORT-LIVED RESURRECTION OF THE ORIGINAL SCHEME OF THE 
ROAD. CLINGMAN'S POWERFUL SPEECH IN VINDICATION OF 
HAYNE AND BLANDING. ONE YEAR MORE BEFORE THE COL- 
LAPSE. THE PROJECT CRITICALLY CONSIDERED 

Calhoun's belief that there would not be any difficulty in 
electing Colonel Gadsden to Hayne's place at the adjourned meet- 
ing of the company, which was to be held at Columbia, was a 
reasonable belief. Who was there to oppose him ? The fight had 
been close with Hayne alive. With Hayne dead, who was strong 
enough to champion the crippled road that South Carolina's 
greatest son opposed so relentlessly ? Were not the finances de- 
ranged? Had not Memminger's report so shown, despite his 
cautions as to mistakes ? And had not Memminger himself been, 
next to Hayne, the strongest advocate, formerly, of the great route, 
and in the mind of some, but little behind Hayne in closeness of 
reasoning power and convincing argument? Was he not now 
against it? Had not the Mercury abandoned it? Was not the 
belief almost universal that, with Hayne's death, the life and soul of 
the original conception was dead ? Was not the fact that Kentucky 
had never responded to but one instalment of less than $ii,ooo, and 
North Carohna, while responding to the three, shrinking in her 
third and last more than 50 per cent, which made her total but 
little over $13,000, sufficient to indicate the uselessness of the im- 
mense effort which would be necessary to carry the road to the 
North Carolina line? It looked so. But there was still some 

525 



526 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

fight in the board. The chief engineer presented a statement 
to the effect that the road could be carried from Branchville to the 
North Carohna hne with an expenditure of $3,950,000, or possibly 
only $3,180,000, of which $1,022,533 had already been incurred, 
and must be thrown away if the work was not pushed/ He showed 
the absurdity of comparing the expense of constructing an em- 
bankment such as the company had laid down, of 25 feet, with the 
old one of only 13 feet width. He pointed out that the surveys, 
about which so much had been said, had covered some 2000 miles, 
and he estimated that, if pushed, the work could be completed by 
1846. In addition, the effect of the expensive repairs which Hayne 
had put upon the Hamburg Road, not apparent in September, were 
very much in evidence three months later. For the month of 
November the receipts of the road leaped up 50 per cent, and the 
amount of cotton brought down was doubled. The supporters of 
the original plan took heart again, and again the battle was joined. 
The party which had been formerly described as "predetermined 
not to suffer the road to be carried beyond Columbia" had ap- 
parently centred upon Colonel Gadsden as their choice for the 
presidency. They had the quiet support of him who bestrid the 
State like a colossus, and from Pickens, Abbeville and Edgefield 
they drew many followers. C. G. Memminger, rising into that 
well-deserved fame which made him, in two decades, the leading 
citizen in the State, was their chief spokesman. Many of the 
Charleston stockholders were, however, with the mass of the stock- 
holders of the rest of the State, behind Vardry McBee of Green- 
ville, and for them, apparently, the chief spokesman was ex- 
Congressman Elmore. Mr. Memminger, for some reason, followed 
Webster's course in the great debate on the public lands and, passing 
over Elmore, fell upon Clingman of North Carolina. No doubt 
Mr. Memminger's speech fully sustained his ascending reputation, 

' Courier, Oct. 25, 1839. 



THE SHORT-LIVED RESURRECTION 527 

but the copy does not appear. The speech, however, which he 
drew from CHngman in reply, could not escape notice, and would 
have done its deliverer no discredit by comparison with the utter- 
ances of any deliberative assembly in the world, where English was 
spoken. It appears in full in the Courier of December 18, and it 
probably had more than a little to do with the elevation of McBee 
to the presidency in place of Gadsden, at that meeting. Some 
short extracts from it which hardly give the reader a clear idea of its 
force and power, but some conception of the tremendous odds 
with which Hayne had struggled, are here exhibited. Incidentally, 
the speaker defended Hayne and Blanding from the supposed 
charge of having "humbugged" the stockholders as to the diffi- 
cukies of the French Broad route, or that they had ever claimed 
that the road could be built without payment of the stock subscribed 
for that purpose. He claimed, as he certainly had some ground to, 
that, irrespective of what other States did or might do. South 
Carolina had undertaken the work. Touching on the small sub- 
scriptions of North Carolina, he made this point: "Without as- 
suming to say what North Carolina will do or what she would 
have done, in any event, I take the responsibility of declaring that 
she has never yet said that she would not contribute money, if nec- 
essary to the work. The stock subscribed in that State is no fair 
index even of the feelings of her citizens towards the enterprise. 
Just before the books of subscription were opened, a letter from Mr. 
Calhoun was published, recommending the route through Georgia. 
As his influence was supposed to be predominant in South Caro- 
lina it dampened the ardor of our citizens, and it is believed that the 
subscription was thereby rendered much less than it would other- 
wise have been. . . . From the indications this morning it seems 
that a majority of the stockholders here are in favor of electing 
to the office of president of the road a gentleman who has 
long favored the route through Georgia. Conceding to Colonel 



528 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

Gadsden all the ability his friends claim for him (a point which 
my limited personal acquaintance with him does not enable me to 
express an opinion of) , I have no hesitation in saying that his eleva- 
tion to the office will kill your road dead. It is singular that it 
should be supported by those persons who are unwilling to pass any 
resolution announcing your determination to stop here. His elec- 
tion will satisfy the community as fully on that point as the most 
solemn declaration you could make. It is well known that he has 
staked his reputation on the failure of this road. For two years he 
has on all occasions spoken and written against it. He has not only 
pronounced the route inferior to the other, but entirely impracti- 
cable. I concur, therefore, with the gentleman who declares the act 
is suicidal. I go further — it is suicide under the most humiliating 
circumstances. If it is to be so, let us kill the enterprise ourselves 
and not gratify an enemy so far as to appoint him an executioner. 
He has for years made war upon the company, but for me, I have not 
been so far converted by his blows as to choose him to preside over 
us." ^ 

The above gives but a faint idea of this powerful speech, which a 
South Carolinian must read with mingled feelings of pride and 
pain. While there is a deliberation and a heavy sternness in it, 
making its style quite different from that of Hayne, while there is 
an absence of that delicacy of satire which Hayne used with such 
effect when roused, yet there is much in it to recall Hayne's great 
reply to Webster. The panegyric on past greatness, offered in 
contrast to portending action, is superbly developed. The utter 
fearlessness with which the counter attack is relentlessly pressed 
home, blow on blow, and yet ever with perfect propriety, stirs the 
blood of the reader even at this day ; while the lofty English fair- 
ness that pervades it makes this North Carolinian's speech the 
very echo of Hayne's declaration in the early part of 1838: "The 

' Courier, Dec. 18, 1839. 



THE SHORT-LIVED RESURRECTION 529 

fate of the road is in your hands, and it will be for you to determine 
whether the roll on which is inscribed the names of the original 
inscribers to the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad 
shall remain a proud memorial of their wisdom and patriotism, or 
a miserable record of fluctuating feelings and changeful purpose, — 
a monument of our glory or our shame." 

The result of Clingman's speech was to completely disprove 
Calhoun's opinion that there would be no difficulty in electing 
Gadsden ; for Vardry McBee was chosen president, and approved 
the memorial prepared by Mitchell King, to be submitted to the 
Legislature, wherein it was claimed that, with what might be 
reasonably expected as collectible from the assets of the road and 
an advancement of eight instalments on the State's subscription, 
which would amount to $400,000, something like $1,920,000 could 
be raised, more than sufficient to pay off the entire indebtedness to 
the Hamburg Road, leaving that property free of all obligations, 
clearing off all dues to banks and requisitions for work under con- 
tract for the superstructure as far as Orangeburg on the Columbia 
branch, with all interest met, and balance of $82,000.^ On the 
twenty-first day of December, 1839, the prayer of the memorial was 
granted, and an act passed affording the relief sought ; ^ and for a 
year or thereabout the struggle continued. But no South Carolina 
enterprise could withstand the relentless internal warfare directed 
by the greatest public figure in the South and the almost abso- 
lute ruler of South Carolina's politics; and by September 25, 1840, 
Calhoun announces, on the authority of Colonel Gadsden : " Ten- 
nessee has withdrawn by mutual consent from those concerned, 
and all idea of going beyond Columbia openly abandoned. Thus 
ends the humbug. ... If I could triumph when state and 
friends have suffered, what a triumph I would have.' 



>> 8 



> Ibid., Dec. 16, 1839. ' Statutes of So. Ca., Vol. 11, p. 86. 

3 "Calhoun's Correspondence," p. 464- 
2M 



530 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

It is useless to pursue any farther inquiries as to the fortunes 
of this road, so intimately connected with the last years of Hayne's 
life. On the practicability or impracticability of the French Broad 
route, the judgment of two great men was staked, and the apparent 
vindication of Calhoun, in 1840, raised his fame and exalted his 
influence in South Carolina to an even loftier height; while over 
Hayne's reputation the dissolution of the great project, against 
which Calhoun had so exerted his power of obstruction, undoubt- 
edly cast a cloud which has remained to the present time. How- 
ever pure and high a man may have been in his public and private 
life, to have been at the close of his life the director, guide and 
chief sustaining power of a work which failed after his death, 
and, in addition, was designated by the greatest statesman of his 
section as "a humbug," must injure him in the estimation of his 
fellows as well as posterity, and this is one of the explanations 
why so little is known of Hayne, so little mention made of him, 
so slight, an appreciation of him. While Hayne's merits were 
extolled by McDuffie in the eulogy delivered in commemoration 
of him, some months after his death, no allusion is made to the 
railroad work. The plan to erect a monument to him seems to 
have been struck with atrophy in spite of the elaborate prepara- 
tions. His papers, carefully preserved for twenty years or more 
after his death, seem to have met the fate which overtook those 
of his great predecessors, Charles Pinckney and William Lowndes. 
Lost or destroyed, the veriest fragments remain. 

The steady movement on to secession, the great blazing war, 
that grand, imposing epic, the Iliad of the old South, from out of 
which arises the stately figure of the peerless Virginian, Robert E. 
Lee, and through which flashes the meteor-like career of Stonewall 
Jackson, dwarf the proportions of even great figures of an earlier 
period. But above all, the tragic grandeur of that lonely figure, 
so firmly convinced of the justice of his cause, so absolutely identi- 



i 



THE SHORT-LIVED RESURRECTION 531 

fied with every aspiration of his section and of the old order which 
was to pass away, leading the South down to the valley of the 
shadow, as she swung into inevitable concussion with the opinions 
of the civilized world, blots out the recollection of apparently 
smaller matters. Yet had Hayne been able to push through his 
great railroad scheme, it may be fairly questioned whether there 
would have been any war. It was his belief that with that road 
linking the South and West, the perpetuity of the Union was es- 
tablished. Was the route he supported impracticable, and was 
*'the great route" which Calhoun advocated, the better? What 
if time has sho\\Ti that Hayne's judgment was right and Calhoun's 
wrong? Shall he who gave up his life in the effort to serve his 
State and country be left under the obloquy which must involve 
the projector of a ''humbug," because the intentions of the great 
man who so designated it were good, if his judgment was faulty ? 
Not while the love of justice appeals to men. It should be remem- 
bered that Calhoun survived Hayne eleven years, and that in the 
quarter of a century which elapsed between the first movement 
for railroad connection between the South and West and its es- 
tablishment, it took him five years to scotch the French Broad 
route, while very nearly eight more were needed to launch that 
which he favored, and its course also was arrested before it could 
begin the penetration of the mountains. As the crippling effects 
of the great war and the still more disastrous effects of recon- 
struction gave way to renewed industrial progress in South Caro- 
lina, it was to Hayne's route, the French Broad route, that men's 
minds turned, as the natural route, and for nearly a quarter of a 
century over it has rolled a freight so heavy as to continually dis- 
organize its passenger traffic. Meanwhile, as late as 1903, to the 
writer's own knowledge, "the great route" of Calhoun still leads 
but to "the forest primeval." 

There the shy trout that shuns the haunts of men darts through 



532 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

the limpid stream ; the wild turkey and the ruffed grouse rise from 
the underbrush in their strong and noisy flight, and the solitary 
resident occasionally met with informs the traveller that he is 
"in the home of the rattler." It is therefore legitimate to inquire 
what might have been the result had Calhoun seconded Hayne's 
efforts instead of exerting his great powers to thwart them. Un- 
questionably the result would have been, if successful, to have 
elevated Hayne to a position in the South very possibly in advance 
of his own. The road pushed through would have very probably 
made an end of abolition agitation; for either free labor would 
have destroyed slave labor, or slavery would have peacefully 
spread. The probable result would have been the spread of 
slavery for a while towards the southwest; while the residents of 
the section through which the road passed, as well as all that to 
the northeast, would have gradually parted with their slaves and 
turned to free labor. But with the commercial success of the enter- 
prise, the head would have loomed out greatest, no matter how ably 
he might have been seconded ; just as in nullification upon Cal- 
houn's brow was placed the crown of success, although it may well 
be doubted whether that might not have ended in disaster, had 
it not been for the particular ability with which Hayne handled 
the helm, and the very peculiar relations between him and Jackson, 
moving the latter to a degree of patience he never exhibited at any 
other period of his life, before or after. 

That the panic of 1837 did cripple the road is not to be ques- 
tioned; but even so, the road might have been pushed through 
with time and patience, had it been spared the war waged upon 
it, with regard to which the purchase of the Hamburg Road was 
in part made to stop and to unite all factions, although there were 
also other reasons for the move. Possibly it might have been 
wiser to have disregarded the clamor and proceeded with the 
construction of the road from Columbia, under the contract offered 



THE SHORT-LIVED RESURRECTION 533 

by the Hamburg Road to build a road of equal mileage to that 
place as the company's road advanced beyond. It would have 
made the building more expensive, and the Hamburg Road might 
have broken down in the effort; while to have taken advantage 
of the necessities of that road in such case might have aroused 
a hostile sentiment, which might have been as injurious as that 
herein portrayed. In fact, these considerations bring up so many 
unknown and unknowable quantities as to leave the matter very 
obscure. Certain it was, however, that the price paid for a road 
needing the repair which the Hamburg Road did need was most 
liberal, and seems to have amounted in the end to about $650,000 
in excess of the estimated cost of the road from Columbia to the 
North Carolina line. But what seems most difficult to under- 
stand is why, with a subscription in South Carolina of $6,000,000 
and a loan of $2,000,000, even with an expenditure of $3,000,000 
for a road of 136 miles of railway in running order, the con- 
struction of the road to the North Carolina line should have been 
abandoned. It is quite true that the action of Kentucky through- 
out was unworthy of that great State; that it had chilled the 
enterprise and to some extent cut off Ohio; but Tennessee had 
responded in no slight manner, and if it was desired to interest 
North Carolina more deeply, pecuniarily, no argument could have 
equalled that of a road approaching her borders. 

The enterprise fell, then, not because it was utterly unreasonable, 
but because, as the Mercury had declared, just prior to the death of 
Hayne, "there was a party predetermined not to suffer the road to 
be carried beyond Columbia." That the Mercury subsequently 
abandoned the French Broad route, simply indicates the increased 
potency of Calhoun after the death of Hayne. 

Mention of but one more production of Hayne will be made, 
as it is illustrative of the views of slave holding at its best, in 
this the year of his death. About two months previous to his own 



rf^ 



« 



534 ROBERT Y. HAYNE 

death, he wrote the obituary of his wife's father. After alluding 
to his service under Marion and personal intimacy with Jefferson, 
he touches on the private life of Colonel Alston: "Whether we 
estimate his claims to public consideration by his extraordinary 
success, the admirable treatment of his slaves or the progressive 
improvement of his estate (the result of a wise practical system 
of economy and good management), Colonel Alston stood at the 
head of the class to which he belonged. It was believed, at 
the time of his death, he was, with perhaps a single exception, 
the largest slave-holder in South Carolina. ... It was the 
opinion of Colonel Alston that in the management of slaves the 
true interests of the planter were in exact accordance with the 
dictates of an enlightened humanity. . . . The consequence 
was that his numerous plantations were models of neatness and 
order and his slaves always exhibited an appearance of health 
and comfort, which spoke well for their treatment. They were 
devotedly attached to their master . . . etc." On the copy of the 
Mercury in which this appears in faded letters is written: "From 
R. B. H. Written by my husband. Alas ! Alas ! What has befal- 
len me. You can well imagine. Too sick to add more." This 
brief comment of the widow indicates more than longer protesta- 
tions. She knew him best of all and, cherishing his memory with 
wifely devotion, pathetically preserved his public utterances, but 
only up to 1834, gathering them together in 1842, when public 
opinion was too strong to permit her to believe that his work for 
the road was other than unfortunate. Time has, however, called 
that opinion to book, and the record is here fearlessly exposed of 
the whple career of the man. Eloquent he was; but it is no dis- 
paragement of him to say that, in the opinion of competent judges, 
there were some of his day considered more so. Dauntless he 
was, but so were many others. In purity of private and public 
life he stood at the very top of his time, and that a time when 



THE SHORT-LIVED RESURRECTION 535 

public men were very pure. In that practical wisdom which 
makes use of every opportunity, in that unwearied industry 
which seeks to utilize every force for good, he had few equals and 
no superiors. In breadth of thought and power of comprehension, 
in ability to extract knowledge from every source open to him, 
considering the limitations of his culture, he was a most extraor- 
dinary man. In the profundity of his thought upon the greatest 
subject which has ever moved his country, his depth will hardly 
be truly fathomed for yet a generation or two. But in his ability 
to win and hold the affection of those with whom he came in con- 
tact, and the respect and esteem of those with whom he found him- 
self in opposition, very few have equalled him in the history of his 
country and, from first to last, his voice seems ever to have been 
"a most persuasive one." 



INDEX 



Abbeville, district, sentiment of, con- 
cerning Free School Act (1814), 62; 
mentioned, 65. 

Abolition, petition from Kentucky Society 
to Congress, 67; mentioned, 70; Sena- 
tor King's efforts in behalf of, 184; 
documents concerning, taken from 
Charleston Post-office, 37,9; mentioned, 
386, 394; John Quincy Adams pre- 
sents petition to Congress concerning, 
398; mentioned, 421, 423; Calhoun on, 
436, 437; mentioned, 451; Rhett's 
resolution concerning, 452; mentioned, 

. 463; Hayne on, 479; mentioned, 484, 

• 532- 

Academy of Art and Design, men- 
tioned, 504 

Academy of Arts, mentioned, 504 

Adams, John, mentioned, 4; appoints 
Chief Justice, U. S. envoy to France, 
25; mentioned, 39; letter of, to '"76" 
Association, 64; mentioned, 176 

Adams, John Quincy, minister to Russia, 
29; in Monroe's cabinet, 88; Presi- 
dential candidate, 128, 173, 174, 176, 
181; Clay explains his vote for, 184; 
Charleston organ of, 210; mentioned, 
213; extracts from diary of, 219; enmity 
of, to Hayne, 226; early views, 227, 228, 
229; extracts from diary, 233; men- 
tioned, 249, 257; criticises Webster's 
constitutional argument, 264; men- 
tioned, 270, 301, 303; extract from 
diary, 304, 305; desirous of concessions 
to South (1832), 313; characterizes 
Proclamation, 331; mentioned, 339; 
protests against Compromise (1833), 
352; introduces in Congress petition to 
abolish slavery in District of Columbia, 
398; mentioned, 421, 435, 436, 437, 440 

African Slaves, defeat in 1788 of bill 
in S. C. Legislature, permitting impor- 
tation of, 3 

Aiken, William, mentioned, 278, 281, 
361, 426 

Alexander, Daniel, mentioned, 106 



Alexander vs. Gibson, case of, 93 
Allen, Horatio, mentioned, 374, 427 
Allston, R. F. W., mentioned, 406 
Allston, Washington, mentioned, 199 
Alston, Colonel William, entertainment 

of Washington by, 13; obituary of, 534 
Alston, Governor Joseph, mentioned, 

61, 76, 129 
Alston, Rebecca, mentioned, 129, 534 
American Friendly Society, toasts at 

banquet of (1830), 269 
American System, The, 123, 161, 218, 

290. 301. 302, 304, 307, 319, 349 
Apprentices Library, at Charleston, 

S.C., mentioned, 200 
Ashmun, Rev. Doctor, mentioned, 203, 

204 
Audubon, John James, mentioned, 199 
AxsoN, Jacob, mentioned, 133 
AxsoN, Paul, mentioned, 317 

Bachman, John, mentioned, 199 

Bacot, H. H., mentioned, 43 

Baker, Joseph, Boston memorialist on 

tariff, 215 
Baker, Captain Richard B., mentioned, 

288 
Baldwin Bill, The, 99, 105, 112 
Baldwin, Judge Henry, mentioned, 99; 

interest in tariff (1832), 305 
Bank of United States, The, Calhoun's 

bill in regard to, 70; mentioned, 83, 84, 

85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 93, 94, 128, 146; 

Clay's bill concerning, 316 
Bankruptcy, System of, mentioned, 153, 

210 
Baptists, places of worship at Charleston 

in (1826), 200 
Barbour, Philip Pendleton, elected 

Speaker of U. S. House of Representa- 
tives, 105; mentioned, 146; defeated 

by Clay for Speaker, 147 
Barbour, Senator James, mentioned, 

149, 152, 184 
Barnwell, Robert, advises nullification 

convention, 353; mentioned, 359 



537 



538 



INDEX 



Beaufort, district of, mentioned, 16 

Bennett, Governor Thomas, men- 
tioned, 118, 130, 134, 282, 393 

Benton, Senator Thomas H., allusions 
to Hayne by, 149, 182; mentioned, 208, 
218; allusion to Webster by, 231, 232; 
mentioned, 233, 241, 254, 262, 299, 314; 
sustains Jackson's veto of Clay's Bank 
BiU, 316; story of Compromise of 1833 
by, 347; supports Calhoun against 
Clay's amendment of tariff biU of 
(1833), 350; mentioned, 464, 494, 496, 
521 

Berlin and Milan Decrees, mentioned, 

32 

Berrien, Senator John M., mentioned, 
225, 470. 503 

Bibb, Senator William W., Calhoun's 
second in affair with Grosvenor, 50 

Biddle, Nicholas, mentioned, 432 

Blair, James, secession proposal of, 315; 
mentioned, 368 

Blake, John, mentioned, 29 

Blanding, Abraham, mentioned, 117; 
railroad proposal of Elias Horry to, 
375; nientioned, 388, 395, 409; Cal- 
houn's allusion to, 413; mentioned, 415; 
director in L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 419; 
mentioned, 487, 522, 523, 527 

BoATWRiGHT, James, commissioner for 

5. C. Canal & R. R. Co. (1827), 217 
BoNSAL, Joseph, . director in L. C. & C. 

R. R. Co., 419 
" Botany of South Carolina and 

Georgia," Stephen Elliott, author of, 71 
BoYCE, Ker, memorialist for S. C. Canal 

& R. R. Co. (1827), 217; mentioned, 

392, 409, 415, 435, 469 
Brantford, Susannah, wife of Abraham 

Hayne, 15 
Brighthaupt, Christian, commissioner 

for S. C. Canal & R. R. Co. (1827), 217 
Brisbane, engineer employed by pro- 
moters of L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 474; 

attacks road, 496 
Brook, Hon. H. F., Clay's letter to, 184 
Brown, William H., author of "First 

I^ocomotive in America," mentioned, 119 
Brown Fellowship Society, mentioned, 

6, 68, 117, 209, 433, 434 
Bryan, George S., mentioned, 290 
Bryan, Mr., mentioned, 342 

Bryce, James, author of " American Com- 
monwealth," mentioned, 59, 190 
Buchanan, James, mentioned, 160 



BuiST, Rev. Doctor, mentioned, 20 
BuLow and Potter vs. City Council, 

case of, 93, 107, IIS 
BuLOW, J. J., mentioned, 281 
Burden, David, free man of color, de- 
clared by S. C. court (1807), competent 
witness, 31 
Burke, Edmund, mentioned, 252, 264 
Burr, Aaron, mentioned, 37 
Burrus, Silas E., mentioned, 343 
Butler, A. P., mentioned, 188, 283, 335 
Butler, General William, mentioned, 

48 
Butler, Governor Pierce M., men- 
tioned, 417 
Buyck, Peter, claim of, 72 

Cadiz, importation from, to Charleston 

(1810), 46 
Caldwell, John, mentioned, r88 
Calhoun, J. A., mentioned, 469 
Calhoun, James Edw.^rd, mentioned, 

211, 344, 405, 413, 438, 461, 522 
Calhoun (Colhoun), John C, aide-de- 
camp to Governor Drayton, 28; men- 
tioned, 30, 32; enters Congress, 37; 
speaks for report of committee on 
Foreign Relations, 38, 39; attends 
caucus of Republican party, 40; men- 
tioned, 41, 48; administration leader in 
House, 49; altercation with Grosvenor, 
50; New York Evening Post's estimate 
of, 51; supports Monroe against Craw- 
ford at caucus, 66; bill of, concerning 
U. S. Bank, 74; close of Congressional 
career, 84; suggests Hayne for Senate, 
107; Secretary of War and Presidential 
candidate, 125, 126, 127, 138, 169, 170, 
187, 188; declines to preside in Senate 
as Vice-President pending investigation 
of charges against himself, 210; letter 
on political condition of Union, 211, 213; 
mentioned, 222, 227, 231; views on 
railroads, 268; mentioned, 269, 270, 
277, 279; letter to Van Deventer, 286; 
breach with Jackson, 287; taunted by 
Charleston Unionists, 290; letter on 
nullification, 292, 294; mentioned, 296, 
298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 306; opinion 
on Van Buren's rejection by Senate 
as Minister to England, 314; mentioned, 
315, 318; elected to U. S. Senate, 327; 
mentioned, 328, 331, 346; member of 
special committee on Compromise BUI, 
(1833), 349; opposes Force Bill, 350; 



INDEX 



539 



comments on Force Bill, 351; fails to 
advise nullification convention, 352; ex- 
presses dissatisfaction with settlement, 
354; power in S. C, 356; earlj' view 
of nullilication, 357; mentioned, 359, 
362, 363, 366; reception in Charleston 
and utterances (1S33), 367, 368, 369, 
371; mentioned, 373, 375, 383, 386, 
3S7; letter to J. S. Williams, 389, 391; 
mentioned, 392; views of, concerning 
railroad transportation, 394, 39 5 ; alludes 
to speech of Congressman Wise, 398; 
H. L. Pinckne3''s difference with, 399; 
selects new route for railroad, 400, 405, 
406; letter to Patrick Noble, 407; men- 
tioned, 409, 412; letter to James Edward 
Calhoun, 413, 414; mentioned, 416; 
director in L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 419; 
public dinner to, at Charleston, 420; 
mentioned, 423 ; difference with Preston, 
431; views on banking, 432; speech on 
banking, 433 ; general policy of, outlined 
in letter to Hammond, 436, 437; allusion 
of, to Van Buren, 438; allusion of, to 
McDufBe, 439; mentioned, 440, 445, 
446, 447; financial views of, sustained 
by S. C. Legislature, 450; following of, 
in S. C. and Congress, 451; attitude of, 
to Rhett's abolition resolution, 452, 453 ; 
views on slavery, 459; mentioned, 461; 
supported by Unionists in State, 462; 
refuses to attend dinner to Preston, 463 ; 
correspondence with Thompson, 464; 
mentioned, 467, 469; resigns as director 
in L. C. & C. R. R. Co., and first let- 
ter concerning same, 470, 471 ; letter of, 
considered, 473; mentioned, 480; second 
letter of, 481-487; mentioned, 491, 496, 
504, 521; letter to James Edward 
Calhoun on hearing of Hayne's death, 
522, 523; letter considered, belief of, 
in feasibility of electing Gadsden as 
successor to Hayne and Blanding, 
reasonable, 525; Clingman's allusion 
to, 527; plan of, to elect Gadsden de- 
feated, 529; apparent vindication of 
position of, concerning railroad route 
in 1840, 530; mentioned, 531, 533 

Calhoun (Colhoun), John Ewing, 107, 
127, 138 

CAMBRIDGE Modern History, men- 
tioned, 356 

C.4MDEN, district of, mentioned, 6, 71 

Campbell, Congressman from S. C, men- 
tioned, 451, 463 



Campbell, Daniel, mentioned, 507 
Campbell, John Wilson, Congressman 

from Ohio, mentioned, 104 
C.A.NNING, George, protest of, as British 
minister, against negro law of S. C, 178 
Cannon, Newton, Governor of Tennessee, 

mentioned, 392, 40S 
Capital of South Carolina, vote con- 
cerning, 3 
Cardozo, J. N., memorialist for S. C. 

Canal & R. R. Co. (1827), 217 
C.'VREY, Matthew, mentioned, 342 
C.^RNES, Peter, mentioned, 5 
Carolina, the ship, mentioned, 47 
Carson, Joseph, mentioned, 506 
Carter, Colonel P., mentioned, 392 
Gary, J. B., director in L. C. & C. R. R. 

Co., 419 
Catholic Miscellany, published at Charles- 
ton (1826), 200 
Cattle's Corps of Hussars, mentioned, 

131 

Caucus, of Senators and Representatives 
in U. S. Congress, to ;iominate candidate 
for Presidency, 40, 66, 147, 152; of 
State Rights party in S. C. Legislature, 
to nominate candidate for Presidency, 
416 

Census (1790), 6 

Chambers, Ezekiel, Senator from Mary- 
land, mentioned, 204, 205, 207, 225, 314 

Chandler, John, Senator from Maine, 
mentioned, 152, 209 

Ch.arleston, city of, voted for, as capital 
of S. C, 5; boundary of city, popu- 
lation of city and district (i79o)> 6; 
theatre and college grammar school of, 
19; population of (1809), 29; stock 
company at theatre of, 30; locomotive 
built in 1834, by mechanics of, 120; 
State regulations concerning negroes 
entering port of, 178; mechanics of, 
201, 271; mentioned, 454, 459; tax 
collected at (1839), 500; criticism of, 
by city press, 503 

Charleston and Cincinnati Railroad, 
385, 391, 395. 400, 401, 403, 405. 406, 
407, 408, 409. 411. 415. 418, 419. 420, 
425, 427. 441, 448, 455. 459. 463, 465, 
467, 468, 471. 473. 479. 481, 485. 505. 
513, 514; see also L. C. & C. R. R. Co. 

Charleston and Hamburg Railroad, 
124, 315, 321. 361. 365. 374, 438, 444, 
453, 458, 465, 477, 511. 513. 526, 529; 
see also Hamburg Railroad. 



540 



INDEX 



Charleston Library Society, 199, 504 

Charleston Mercury, 200 

Charleston Riflemen, 132 

Cheeseborough, E., engineer employed by 
L. C. & C. R. R. Co, 505, 515 

Cheves, Langdon, State Senator, 27; 
Attorney-General, S. C, 28; mentioned, 
29, 30, 32; enters Congress, 33; speech 
of, on non-intercourse bill, 34, 35; 
mentioned, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42; speech 
on bill for increase of army, 43, 44; 
speech on Merchants' Bonds, 45 ; men- 
tioned, 49; elected Speaker of U. S. 
House of Representatives, 50; New 
York Evening Post's estimate of, 51, 52; 
declines reelection to Congress, 60; 
toasted at Abbeville, S. C, 65; men- 
tioned, 71, 73, 84; president of U. S. 
Bank, 85; letters from Hayne to, 87, 89; 
mentioned, 91, 93; suggested for 
President of U. S. by Kentucky paper, 
128; mentioned, 138; letters from 
Hayne to, 146; mentioned, 175, 181, 
258, 279, 282, 318, 319; opposes Cal- 
houn on divorce of bank and State, 445 ; 
mentioned, 515 

Chief Justice of the United States, 
speech of Charles Pinckney, in opposi- 
tion to appointment of, as Minister to 
France, by Adams, 25 

Choiseul, Count de, pall-bearer at 
funeral of Robert Y. Hayne, 515 

Cincinnati, South Carolina Society of, 
opposes practice of duelling, 47 

Citadel, request to U. S. authorities at 
Charleston, S.C, to remove Federal 
troops from, 320; Nullification Ball at, 

358 

City Gazette, 200 

City Guard, of Charleston, mentioned, 
132, 380 

Clay, Henry, mentioned, 32; first entry 
into U. S. Senate, 33; elected Speaker 
of U. S. House of Representatives, 37; 
mentioned, 39, 41, 45, 49; appointed 
peace commissioner, 50; mentioned, 52; 
attends Repubhcan caucus, 66; in op- 
position to administration, 88; speech 
on Missouri Question, 99, 100; style 
of speaking described by contemporary, 
loi; mentioned, 102, 112, 144, 146; 
elected Speaker in opposition to P. P. 
Barbour, 147; mentioned, 154, 175; 
letter of, to Hon. H. F. Brook, 184; 
opposition to confirmation of, as Sec- 



retary of State, 185; mentioned, 187, 
190. 193. 206, 211, 213, 229, 247; 
enters U. S. Senate for second time, 
300; father of the American System, 
301, 302; tribute of, to William Lowndes, 
303; intolerance of, 304; resolution 
of, concerning tarifi (1832), 305; men- 
tioned, 306; threatens S. C, 312, 313; 
opposes Van Buren's appointment as 
Minister to England, 314; mentioned, 
315; attempts to pass Bank Bill over 
President's veto, 316; bill of, to modify 
tariff, 347, 348, 349; amendment of, 
to Compromise bUl, 350; taunts Web- 
ster, 351; responsibility of, for nullifi- 
cation, 357; mentioned, 435, 437, 453, 

465, 494, 496 

Clayton, John M, Congressman, men- 
tioned, 347, 349 

Clingman, T. L, mentioned, 506, 507; 
criticises Gadsden's report on L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co, 511; moves to table both 
reports, 512; speech of in reply to C. G. 
Memminger and in defence of Hayne and 
Blanding, 526, 527; result of speech, 

529 

Clinton, De Witt, Presidential candi- 
date, 42 

CoLcocK, Charles Jones, mentioned, 

415. 490 

Colleton, John Hayne settles in (1700), 
15; District, sentiment concerning Free 
School Act (1814), 62 

Colonization Society, speeches in U. S. 
Senate on, 202-207; resolution of S. C. 
Legislature in reference to, 218; entry 
in John Quincy Adams's diary concern- 
ing, 228 

Columbia, city of, chosen as capital of 
S. C, 3 

Compromise Act (1833), 347, 350, 369, 

449 
Congregationalists, places of worship 

at Charleston, S.C, in (1826), 200 
Conner, Henry W., mentioned, 195 
Constitutional Convention (1787), 

act commissioning deputies to, 4, 289, 

293. 333, 33^ 
Constitution of South Carolina 

(1790), I. 3> 7, 73 
Constitution of United States, vote 
of S. C. Legislature (1788) to postpone 
ratification of, and to refuse to ratify, 3; 
procession at Charleston in celebration 
of ratification, 6; mentioned, 259, 263, 



INDEX 



541 



264, 270, 289, 293, 294, 297, 298, 325, 

329. 336, 337, 344, 355 

Constitution (U. S. frigate), mentioned, 42 

Cooper, actor, mentioned, 46, 47 

Cooper, Dr. Thomas, political pamphlet 
of, 176; mentioned, 279 

Corbett, Mr., mentioned, 7 

Courier, The, 200 

CouRTENAY, HoN. WiLLiAM A., men- 
tioned, 458 

Crafts, William, mentioned, 48, 62, 72; 
candidate for Congress, 75 

Crawford, William H., defeated by 
Monroe in caucus to select Presidential 
candidate, 66; aspirant for Presidency, 
88; mentioned, 105, 125, 137, 147, 213, 

270, 357 
Cross, George Warren, counsel for 

Denmark Vesey, 132; memorialist for 

S. C. Canal & R. R. Co. (1827), 216, 217 
Crozier, John H., mentioned, 493 
Cruft, Edward, Boston memorialist on 

tariff, 215 

Dallas, George M., Senator from Penn- 
sylvania, mentioned, 314, 349, 350 

Dane, Nathan, mentioned, 243, 244, 255 

Dangue, epidemic of, at Charleston, S.C., 
221 

Davie, W. F., mentioned, 409, 446 

Dawson, William C, Congressman from 
Georgia, mentioned, 392 

Deane, Mary, wife of John Hayne, the 
setder, 15 

Deas, Henry, mentioned, 132, 217, 317 

Declaration of Independence, celebra- 
tion of, at Charleston, S.C. (1800), 
described, 25 

Delaware and Hudson Canal Com- 
pany, mentioned, 120 

De Saussure, H. a., mentioned, 281, 317, 
404 

Dexter, Samuel, Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, mentioned, 251 

Dickerson, Mahlon, Senator from New 
Jersey, replies to Hayne's speech on tar- 
iff (1824), 155; mentioned, 218, 230, 

301, 305, 349 
Donaldson, Major A. J., mentioned, 448 
Dotterer, Thomas, mentioned, 121; 
maker of first locomotive made by 
Charleston shop, 271; mentioned, 374 
Drayton, Governor John, mentioned, 28 
Drayton, Lieutenant, engineer, men- 
tioned, 419 



Drayton, William, Recorder of city of 
Charleston, 94; member of first court 
charged with trial of Negro Insurrec- 
tionists, 132; mentioned, 194, 221; 
indorsed for Congress by both State 
Rights and Unionist parties at Charles- 
ton, 281, 287, 317, 397, 421 

Duelling, Walter Taylor convicted and 
sentenced for, in Edgefield district 
(1813), 47; trial of John Edwards for, 
82 ; bill in Congress by Charles Pinckney 
to prevent, on Federal territory, 118; 
effect of Moser's law against, in quarrel 
between Petigru and Hunt, 198; code 
published by ex-Governor Wilson, 453 

Dunkin, B. F., mentioned, 281, 470 

Earle, mentioned, 507 

Eason, mentioned, 374 

Edings, Mary, wife of John Hayne, 2d, 15 

Edmonston, Charles, mentioned, 217, 
387, 392, 409, 415; director in L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 419 

Edwards, John, case of State against for 
violation of duelling law, 82 

Elliott, Bishop, mentioned, 354, 381 

Elliott, B., letter of John Adams to, as 
member of committee of '"76" As- 
sociation, 64 

Elliott, Stephen, mentioned, 30; opposes 
William Lowndes for Congress, 41; 
author of "Botany of South Carohna 
and Georgia," collector of "Elliott 
Herbarium," 71; mentioned, 91; chair- 
man committee framing memorial against 
tariff bill (1820), 106; mentioned, 107, 
108, 123; elected honorary member of 
Linneaean Society at Paris, 189; com- 
missioner for S. C. Canal & R. R. Co. 
(1827), 217; thorough comprehension in 
1828 of possibilities of railway trans- 
portation by, 387 

Elmore, F. H., mentioned, 415; director 
in L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 419 

Elson, Henry W., history of U. S. by, 
mentioned, 32; mentioned, 155, 298 

Embargo, mentioned, 49 

Episcopalians, places of worship at 
Charleston (1826), 200 

Ervin, James, mentioned, 99 

Evans, D. R., mentioned, 91, 217 
Evans, Oliver, mentioned, 121, 271 
Ewart, David, mentioned, 217 
EwiNG, Thomas, Senator from Ohio, 
mentioned, 312, 456 



542 



INDEX 



Fairchild vs. Bell, case of, 67 
Faneuil Hall, nullification meeting at 

(1811), 35. 36. 95. 252 
Featherstonaugh, engineer, 419 
Federalists, see Federal Party 
Federal Party, 18, 29, 41, 72, 269, 

460 
Fennel, actor, mentioned, 47 
FiSK, member of Congress from New 

York, mentioned, 35 
FiSKE, Rev. Theophilus, mentioned, 

430 
Fitch, A., mentioned, 331 
FiTzsiMONS, Paul, commissioner for S. C. 

Canal & R. R. Co., 217 
Fleming, Thomas, memorialist for S. C. 

Canal & R. R. Co. (1827), 217 
Floyd, John, Governor of Virginia, 

nominated by Legislatm^e of S. C. for 

Presidency (1832), 321; letter of, to 

Governor Hayne, 345 
FooTE, Samuel A., Senator from Con- 
necticut, mentioned, 250 
Foote's Resolution, 231, 235 
Force Bill, 349, 350, 351, 353, 356, 452, 

453; see also Revenue Collection Bill 
Ford, Timothy, commissioner for S. C. 

Canal & R. R. Co., 217 
Foreign Trade, Charles Pinckney's 

opinion on, 22 
Forney, Thomas J., director in L. C. & 

C. R. R. Co., 419 
Forsyth, John, member of Congress from 

Georgia, later Senator, mentioned, 175; 

speech of, in Senate, against nullification, 

347. 349 
Fort Moultrie, anniversary of battle of, 

celebrated at Charleston, S.C., 220; 

last survivor of, 2 88 
Foster, William, Boston memorialist on 

tariff, 215 
Franklin, Benjamin, mentioned, 18 
Franklin Society, 199 
Fraser, Charles, mentioned, 199 
Free Colored Persons, 6, 37 35, 67, 68, 

69. 71. 79. 9S. 113. "4. 119. 131. 134, 

136, 183. 2°5. 208, 433, 501 
Free Schools, 48, 62, 66, So, 199 
Free Trade, 248, 301 
Frenaud, Peter, mentioned, 29 
French Protestants, places of worship 

at Charleston (1826), 200 
Frost, Mr., mentioned, 342 
Fulton, Robert, mentioned, 122 
Furman, Charles M., mentioned, 133 



Gadsden, Mr., murdered by Touheys, 83 

Gadsden, Colonel James, examination 
of Tuckaseege route by, 405 ; previous 
letter of, to Hayne, 406 ; praises Georgia 
Road, 435; allusions to early surveys 
of French Broad route by, 441, 473, 
474. 475. 487; criticises management 
of L. C. & C. R. R. Co., at annual 
meeting, 506, 507, 511, 512; suggested 
by Calhoun as fitted for presidency of 
both bank and road, 522, mentioned, 
525, 526; Clingman's opposition to, 
528, 529 

Gaillard, Senator John, elected Presi- 
dent of U. S. Senate, 149; death of, 
188 

Galignani, mentioned, 381 

Gallagher, Rev. Doctor, mentioned, 
20 

Garden, Major Alexander, mentioned, 
196, 197, 199, 220, 221 

Gardenier, member of Congress from 
New York, mentioned, 35 

Garnett, Robert, Congressman from 
Virginia, mentioned, 174 

Gaston, William, member of Congress 
from N. C, mentioned, 50 

Geddes, John, Governor of S. C, men- 
tioned, 29, 130 

Gell, State's witness in negro insurrec- 
tion trials, 137 

George, slave owned by Wilson family, 
chief witness in negro insurrection 
trials, 131, 137 

Georgetown, district of, mentioned, 6 

Georgia, mentioned, 23; Botany of, 71, 
Historical Society of, established, 503 

German Protestants, places of worship 
of, at Charleston, S.C. (1826), 200 

Gist, John, mentioned, 48, 175 

Glascock, Congressman, mentioned, 398 

GoDARD, Rene, mentioned, 217, 283 

Goddard, Nathaniel, Boston memorial- 
ist on tariff, 214 

Goddard, William, Boston memorialist 
on tariii, 215 

Gold, member of Congress from New 
York, mentioned, 44 

Golf, location of links in Charleston in 
eighteenth century, 19 

Goodman, Duke, mentioned, 106 

Gordon, John, member of second court on 
Negro Insurrection, 133 

Gospel Messenger, published at Charleston, 
S.C. (1826), 200 



INDEX 



543 



Grand Jury of Charleston District, 
presentments of (1816), 68, 134 

Graves-Cilley Duel, 453 

Gray, Thomas, inventor, mentioned, 120 

Gray, Hon. Willlam, mentioned, 121; 
death of, 215 

Grayson, William, mentioned, 83 

Green, Duff, editor Telegraph, men- 
tioned, 287, 320, 398; advice of, to 
Calhoun to be for Van Buren or against 
him, 437; mentioned, 463 

Green, William, director L. C. & C. 
R. R. Co., 419 

Gregg, James R., mentioned, 188 

Gresh.\m, Congressman from S. C, 
mentioned, 461 

Grimke, Thomas S., mentioned, 342 

Grosvenor, Congressman from New 
York, mentioned, 50, 175 

Grundy, Felix, mentioned, 32, 49; 
defeated by Cheves for Speaker U. S. 
House of Representatives, 50; men- 
tioned, 270, 280, 347, 349 

Guerriere (British frigate), mentioned, 42 

"H," correspondent suggesting in columns 
of Charleston paper, practicability of 
operating railway between Charleston, 
Augusta, and Columbia, by steam power 
(1821), 118, 119, 120, 121, 124, 140, 189, 

387 
Haiti, mentioned, 192 
Hamburg Railroad, 124, 315, 321, 361, 

365. 374, 438, 444, 509, 5", S^3, 526, 
529; see also Charleston and Hamburg 
R. R. 

Hamilton, Alexander, mentioned, 51, 
161 

Hamilton, Major James, mentioned, 196, 
288 

Hamilton, James, Jr., 127; leader of 
State Rights party at Charleston (1830), 
278; mentioned, 280, 282, 318; presi- 
dent of nullification convention, 319; 
address of, as Governor, 320; mentioned, 
322, 346, 352, 559, 362, 367, 392, 409; 
director in L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 419; 
mentioned, 435; opposes Calhoun's 
financial policy in S. C. Legislature, 446, 
450, 451; mentioned, 453; speech of, 
on divorce of bank and State, 461, 462; 
mentioned, 482, 484 

Hammond, J. H., mentioned, 287, 469 

Hampton, Wade, mentioned, 388; sub- 
scribes for deficiency, to secure charter 



for L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 407; men- 
tioned, 409 
Harby, Isaac, editor City Gazette (1821), 
comments of, on report of Massachusetts 
Legislature concerning negro and mu- 
latto residents, 114; comments of, on 
nullification in Ohio and Virginia, 115, 
116, 117 
Hardy, F. E., director in L. C. & C. 

R. R. Co., 419 
Harleston Green, golfing ground in 

Charleston in eighteenth centurj', 19 
Harper, William, appointed by Governor 
Manning to fill vacancy in U. S. Senate 
occasioned by death of Senator Gaillard, 
188; selected to draft nullification ordi- 
nance, 319; dissents from opinion of 
Supreme Court of S. C. declaring test 
oath unconstitutional, 375 
Harris, Cicero, mentioned, 232 
Harrison, William H., reply of, to 
Senator Smith in U. S. Senate con- 
cerning Naval Academy, 209 ; promoter 
of railroad between Cincinnati and 
Charleston, 385; Presidential candi- 
date, 395, 416 
H.-vrtford Convention, 243, 244 
Hatton Colliery, 120 
Havana, slave ships at, 73, 504 
Hayne, Abraham, mentioned, 15 
Hayne, Arthur P., mentioned, 40, 63, 88; 
account of last meeting between General 
Jackson and Robert Y. Hayne by, 448 
Hayne, Colonel Isaac, mentioned, 15 
Hayne, John, founder of family settles 

in Colleton County, S.C. (1700), 15 
Hayne, John, 2d, mentioned, 15 
Hayne, Paul Hamilton, mentioned, 57 ; 
comment of, on "Webster's Reply," 264 
Hayne, Robert Y., birth of, 16; dis- 
position of, as a youth, 2 7 ; law student 
■ in office of Langdon Cheves, 34; en- 
listment of, during War of 181 2 in 
Charleston Cadet Infantry, 40; begins 
the practice of law, 41; cases of, before 
court of appeals, 42; member of com- 
mittee to present sword to Lieutenant 
Shubrick, 43; intimacy with family 
of Charles Pinckney, 47; marriage to 
Frances Henrietta Pinckney, 48; first 
oration of, 52, 54; controversy excited 
by oration, 55; criticism of, from 
literary standpoint, 57; knowledge 
displayed concerning governmental 
questions by, 58, 59; nominated and 



544 



INDEX 



f 



elected at head of Republican ticket for 
seat in S. C. House of Representatives 
from Charleston, 60; appointed by 
Governor Quartermaster-General of 
State, 61; mentioned, 63; letter of 
John Adams to, as member of com- 
mittee, '"76" association, 64; influence 
in Legislature of, 66; popularity of, 
70, 72; carries change in Constitution 
of State concerning courts, 73; mis- 
taken view of, concerning manu- 
factures in South, 74; elected Speaker 
S. C. House of Representatives, 77; 
opposes amendment of U. S. Constitu- 
tion, 78; opposes repeal of act prohibit- 
ing importation of negroes from other 
States and Territories, 80; unanimously 
elected Attorney-General of S. C, 81; 
prosecution of Edwards under duelling 
law by, 82; prosecution of the Touheys 
by, 83; letters of, to Langdon Cheves, 
85, 87, 89, 90, 91; argues case of Bulow 
and Potter vs. City Council, 92, 93, 94; 
member of committee, framing memorial 
concerning tariff (1820), io6; Calhoun's 
opinion of, 108; reasons for believing 
him to be "H," 122, 123, 124; letter 
of, to William Lowndes, 126, 127; 
marriage of, with Rebecca Alston, 129; 
mentioned, 130; in command of all 
troops on night of expected negro in- 
surrection, 132; member of second 
court appointed to try insurrectionists, 
133; tribute of Governor Bennett to, 
134; suggested for U. S. Senate by 
Calhoun, 138; brought out in opposi- 
tion to Crawford's supporter Smith, 
139; supported by Federal papers, 140, 
141 ; advocated by H. L. Pinckney, 
142; elected, 143; letter of, to Calhoun 
in behalf of Petrie, 145; letters to Lang- 
don Cheves, 146, 147; enters U. S. 
Senate, 149; description of, by Benton, 
150; first resolution of, in Senate, 151; 
speech of, in support of report of Naval 
Committee, 152; views of, concerning 
Supreme Court of U. S., 153; leader 
of faction in Senate opposed to increase 
of duties, 154; estimate of, by historian 
Elson and by Benton, 155; successful 
amendments to tariff bill by, 156; 
speech against tariff (1824), 158-169; 
controversy with ex-Senator Smith, 
170, 173; Poinsett advised to consult, 
174; mentioned, 176; letter of, to C. 



C. Pinckney, Jr., 180-182; chairman 
of select committee on Lafayette grant, 
182; opposes Senator King's emanci- 
pation resolution, 184; opposes con- 
firmation of Henry Clay as Secretary of 
State, 185; appointed chairman on com- 
mittee on Naval Affairs, 187; speech 
against Panama Mission, 190-193; 
mentioned, 194; speech against Col- 
o'hiz'ation Society, 202-208; carries 
bill for increase of navy through Senate 
against opposition of colleague, 209- 
210; mentioned, 213; presents me- 
morial of citizens of Boston against 
higher duties, 214, 215; opposes tariff 
of (1828), 218; unanimous reelection 
to Senate, 222; speech of, in support of 
protest of S. C. against protecting duties, 
223; first clash with Webster, 224; 
defeats Webster's resolution to print 
President's Message and documents 
relating to Panama Congress, 225; in- 
curs enmity of Adams, 226, 227; 
Adams's characterization of, upon de- 
feat of Webster's resolution, 229; in- 
fluence of, in session of (1829-30), 230; 
Webster's reasons for attacking, 231, 
232; motives assigned to, by John 
Quincy Adams, 233; speech of, on 
public lands, and assault of Webster 
on, 235-238; personal gifts of, con- 
sidered in relation to Webster's, 239, 
240; reply of, to Webster, 241-252; 
Webster corrected by, 260-262; ar- 
gument of, that Constitution is a com- 
pact between each State and the U. S., 
263; response of, to Webster's per- 
oration, 264; comparison by Phila- 
delphia Gazette of Webster and, 265; 
President Jackson's opinions of speech 
of, 266; election of, to oSice of Major- 
General S. C. Militia, 268; criticism 
of, by Charleston Federals, 269; op- 
position of colleague Senator William 
Smith to argument of, 270; speech of, 
on pension laws, 272, 273; estimate of 
certain Northern papers of, 274, 275; 
nature of Edward Livingston's opposi- 
tion to, 276; Dr. Thomas Cooper's allu- 
sion to, 279; dinner in honor of, together 
with William Drayton, 280; letter of, to 
Colonel Thomas Pinckney, 281; ora- 
tion on July 4, 1831, of, 287-289; use 
of speech of, 291; the historian Elson's 
accusation against, 298; exertions of, 



INDEX 



545 



to remove cause of discontent, 300; 
loyalty of, to Calhoun, 301, 302; speech 
of, on Clay's resolution concerning the 
tariff (1832), 305-311; mentioned, 312; 
opposes appointment of Van Buren as 
Minister to England, 314; mentioned, 
315; assists Benton in sustaining Presi- 
dent Jackson's veto of Clay's Bank 
Bill, 316; efforts of, for fair election 
on nullification issue, 317; remarks 
of opposition press concerning, 318; 
appointed by nullification convention, 
to draft exposition of proceedings, 319; 
mentioned, 320; resigns from U. S. 
Senate and elected Governor of S. C, 
321, 322; inaugural of, as Governor of, 
323-326; inaugural of, responsible for 
Jackson's Proclamation, 327; Living- 
ston's agreement in some parts with 
constitutional argument of, 328; men- 
tioned, 330; requested by State Legis- 
lature to reply to Presidential procla- 
mation, 331; characterization by John 
Quincy Adams of reply of, 332; counter 
proclamation of, 333-339; personal 
grievance of, against President Jackson, 
340; mentioned, 341; letter of, to 
Silas E. Surrus of New York, 343; 
Governor of Virginia Floyd communi- 
cates with, 345; mentioned, 346, 348; 
succeeds Hamilton as president of 
nullification convention, 352; toasted 
on St. Patrick's day at Charleston, S. C, 
for successful conduct of affairs, 353; 
incident narrated to Bishop Elliott by, 
354; mentioned, 356, 362, 363; char- 
acter of, as incUcated by public and 
official utterances, 364, 368, 371, 373, 
375; a private citizen after twenty years 
of pubhc hfe, 378; called upon in Post- 
office trouble, 379; value of his leader- 
ship in that matter, 380, 381; early 
interest in subject of railways, 383; 
causes of inability to prosecute early 
inquiries, 384; lively interest in Western 
railroad project, 385, 386; praise of 
Stephen Elliott, Poinsett, Edmonston, 
and Horry by, 387; argument of, for 
Western Railroad, 388-389; Judge 
O'Neall's letter to, 391; writes to Cin- 
cinnati meeting, 392 ; views concerning 
slavery, considered, 393; why Western 
connection meant so much to him, 394; 
work of, for railroad, 400; chosen 
president of Knoxville convention, 401; 



comment of Courier on, 402 ; Professor 
Ulrich B. PhilUps's criticism, of his ad- 
dress as president considered, 403 ; dis- 
approves of course of H. L. Pinckney, 
405; letter of, concerning Tuckaseege 
route, 406, 407; member of committee 
to appeal to State Legislature, 409; re- 
formation of railroad plans by, to meet 
objections urged in Governor McDuf- 
fie's Message, 411; mentioned, 414; 
elected president of L. C. & C. R. R. 
Co., 418; mentioned, 420; declines 
reelection to Mayoralty, 421; men- 
tioned, 423; repHcs to attack on L. C. 
& C. R. R. Co. by anonymous corre- 
spondent, 427; Mercury's comment on, 
428; mentioned^ 430; criticised by 
ex-Governor Lyde Wilson and Waddy 
Thompson, 431; on negro population 
of Charleston, 433; energy and in- 
dustry of, exhibited as Mayor, 435; 
statement of national policy of, 4-10; 
statement of plans of L. C. & C. Co. 
by, 442, 445; mentioned, 446; reception 
of, at Nashville, 447, 448; last meeting 
with Andrew Jackson, 449; disarms 
hostility of S. C. Legislature to rail- 
road, 4 so; mentioned, 453; appeals to 
Charleston in behalf of L. C. & C. R. R. 
Co., 454; appeals to State, 455-458; 
made head of committee of citizens of 
Charleston on occasion of conflagration, 
460; mentioned, 462; praised by both 
factions in State, 463; mentioned for 
President of the U. S. by Georgia paper, 
464; reception of, in Kentucky, 465; 
mentioned, 467, 471; letter of, to Cal- 
houn, 473; mentioned, 4S0, 481, 485, 
486; views of, concerning union of 
management of bank and railroad, 
487; letter from King to, 489; men- 
tioned, 491, 492; in connection with 
Legare and Preston revives Southern 
Review, 493; letter of, to Courier, con- 
cerning rejection of Van Buren as 
Minister to England, 494, 495. 49^5 
denies, as president, report that rail- 
road will stop at Columbia, 497; men- 
tioned, 499, 501, 502, 505; death of, 
515; Petigru's estimate of, 516; various 
estimates of, by men and journals, 517; 
plan of City Council to raise monument 
to, 518; allusion to, 521; Calhoun's 
letter commenting on death of, 522, 
523; course of Calhoun in reference to 



2 N 



546 



INDEX 



reputation of, considered, 532; obituary 
of Colonel Alston by, 533, 534 
Haywood, William H., Speaker of N. C. 
House of Representatives, opposes grant 
of banking facilities by State to L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 418 
Henry Letters, mentioned, 39 
Heyward, Nathaniel, mentioned, 132 
Heyward, Thomas, mentioned, 7, 10 
Hill, Isaac, Senator from New Hamp- 
shire, mentioned, 350 
Holbrook, John Edwards, mentioned, 

198 
Holmes, I. E., characterization of Jack- 
son by, 341; mentioned, 469, 470, 506, 

507, 511 

Holmes, John, member of Congress from 
Massachusetts, 99 ; Senator from Maine, 
153. 230 

Holmes, John B., recorder of Charleston 
(179O, 8 

Horry, Elias, work as president of 
Charleston and Hamburg Railroad, 
361; great railroad policy of, 365; 
death of, 384; probable influence of, in 
exciting interest in the West con- 
cerning railroad connection with the 
South, 385; Hayne's appreciation of 
services of, 387; mentioned, 426 

Hort, Elias B., mentioned, 281 

Houston, letter appearing in "Critical 
Study of Nullification" by, 173 

HuGER, Alfred, letter of, to Amos 
Kendall, 379; letter of, to Charles 
Manigault, 381; defeated by H. L. 
Pinckney for Congress, 397; opposes 
indorsement of Pinckney at Unionist 
meeting, 404; speaks at meeting where 
Fiske is struck, 430; defends direction 
of L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 506, 507, 512 

HuGER, Daniel Elliott, on committee 
to present sword to Lieutenant Shu- 
brick, 43 ; opposes attempt to over- 
throw Free School System, 48; popu- 
larity of, 70; appointed chairman of im- 
portant committee in S. C. Legislature 
by Speaker Bennett, 72; supports 
change of State Constitution concern- 
ing Appellate Court, 73; candidate for 
Congress in opposition to William 
Crafts and Charles Pinckney, 75; ap- 
pointed chairman of committee of Ways 
and Means, S. C. Legislature by Speaker 
Hayne, 77; supports amendment to 
Constitution of U. S., 78; opposes bill 



for repeal of act prohibiting importa- 
tion of negroes from other States and 
Territories, 80, 98; candidate for U. S. 
Senate against William Smith, 193; 
mentioned, 246; leader of Unionist 
party at Charleston (1830), 278; 
elected to Legislature by Unionists, 281 ; 
mentioned, 282; leader of faction in 
Legislature, 283; secures vote for 
amendment to Preston's resolution 
calling nullification convention, de- 
feating call, 284, 285; signer of Unionist 
address (1832), 297; framer of Unionist 
Remonstrance and Protest, 332; men- 
tioned, 393, 492; defends direction of 
L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 506, 507, 511, 512, 
513; pall-bearer at funeral of Robert 
Y. Hayne, 515 
Hunt, B. F., opposes amendment to U. S. 
Constitution, 78; description of, by 
William Grayson, 83; advocate of 
State Rights in S. C. Legislature, 188; 
quarrel with Petigru, 197; memorialist 
in behalf of S. C. Canal & R. R. Co., 217; 
Unionist leader in Charleston (1830), 
27S, mentioned, 281 

Ingham, Samuel D., mentioned, 287 
Irving, Washington, mentioned, 45 

Jack, Gullah, negro leader in Vesey 
insurrection, 131 

Jackson, General Andrew, regard of, 
for Arthur P. Hayne, 40; schoolmate 
of William Smith and William H. Craw- 
ford, 137; nominated as President, by 
State of Pennsylvania, 169; by S. C, 
177; Hayne's confidence in election of, 
181; Clay's allusion to, in letter to 
Brook, 184; mentioned, 193, 221, 222, 
229; Parton's story of conversation be- 
tween Major Lewis and, 266; basis 
of Proclamation of, 276; letter of, to 
William B. Lewis, 280; mentioned, 286; 
demands explanation from Calhoun, 287; 
Calhoun's allusion to, in connection with 
the tariff, 291; toasts the Union at 
Washington banquet, 299; education 
of, concerning nullification, 300; desirous 
of concessions to the South, 313; vetoes 
Clay's Bank Bill, 316; indisposition 
to coerce Hayne, 326; oSicial author 
of Proclamation, 336; contemporaneous 
evidence of his praise of Hayne's reply 
to Webster, 340; mentioned, 347, 348; 
responsibility of, for nullification, 357; 



INDEX 



547 



capture of, by "Yankees," 362; Living- 
ston's influence upon, 363; Van Buren's 
"terror of," 438; mentioned, 448, 449, 

495. 496, 517 
Jackson, Stonewall, mentioned, 530 
Jameson, J. F., mentioned, 173 
Java (British frigate), mentioned, 42 
Jefferson, Thomas, South Carolina's in- 
clination to the views of (1800), 21; 
Charles Pinckney's support of, 25; scorn- 
ful allusions of Courier to, 26; elected 
President by U. S. House of Repre- 
sentatives, through withdrawal of Abra- 
ham Nott from further voting, 37; 
petition to Congress for relief of daugh- 
ter of, 202; quoted by Hayne as au- 
thority for nullification, 289; mentioned, 
325, 340; quoted at Nullification Ball, 
358; intimacy of Colonel William 
Alston with, 534 
Jervey, James, letter of John Adams to, 
as member of committee of '"76" 
Association, 64; memorialist for S. C. 
Canal & R. R. Co., 217 
Jews, places of worship at Charleston, 

S. C. (1826), 200 
Johnson, Colonel John, mentioned, 106 
Johnson, David, vice-president of S. C. 

Unionist convention (1832), 332 
Johnson, John Jr., mentioned, 281 
Johnson, Judge William, mentioned, 
29; opinion in case of Bulow and 
Potter vs. City Council, 94 
Johnson, Rev. John, views of, concern- 
ing routes to the West, 486 
Johnson, R. M., mentioned, 153, 209, 

465 
Jones, Thomas F., mentioned, 409 
July 4, celebration of, at Charleston, 

described, 26 

Kane, Ellas Kent, Senator, mentioned, 

35° 
Keith, Matthew I., mentioned, 74, 281 
Keith, Rev. Isaac Stockton, 9 
Kendall, Amos, Postmaster-General, 
letter of Alfred Huger, postmaster at 
Charleston, to, 379 
Kennedy, Lionel, mentioned, 73, 132 
King, Mitchell, director of L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 419; mentioned, 453, 
489; letter of, to Hayne, 490; defends 
direction of L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 506; 
motion of, at meeting, 513; mentioned, 
515; frames memorial in behalf of 



L. C. & C. R. R. Co., to S. C. Legislature, 

529 
King, Rufus, Senator from New York, 

mentioned, 153 
King, Thomas Butler, Senator from 

Georgia, difference of, with Calhoun in 

Senate, 3S3; tribute of, to Hayne, 517 
Kirkland, Mr., mentioned, 342 
Knox, Vicessimus, mentioned, 56 

Lafayette, Marquis de, mentioned, 18, 

181, 182, 195 
Lance, William, mentioned, 43, 48, 70, 73, 

83. 393 
Lang, Thomas, commissioner for S. C. 

Canal & R. R. Co., 217 
Lawrence, Captain, mentioned, 42 
Law, William, commissioner for S. C. 

Canal & R. R. Co., -2 17 
Lecky, Willi.'vm Edward Hartpole, 

mentioned, 59, 190 
Lee, Henry, Boston memorialist on 
tariff, 215; nominated by S. C. (1832), 
for Vice-President, 321 
Lee, Robert E., mentioned, 530 
Lee, Thomas, mentioned, 29, 106, 281 
Legare, Hugh Swinton, speech of, in 
advocacy of State Rights in S. C. Legis- 
lature (1825), 188; Unionist leader 
at Charleston (1830), 278; elected to 
Legislature on Unionist ticket, 281; 
resigns seat to accept election as At- 
torney-General of State, 283; William 
Lowndes extolled by, 284; opposes 
and defeats H. L. Pinckney for Con- 
gress, 404; mentioned, 446, 451, 461, 462, 
463; defeat of, for Congress, 469; 
revives Southern Review, 493 
Lehre, Thomas Jr., mentioned, 317 
Leigh, Benjamin Watkins, commissioner 
from Virginia to S. C. (1832), 345, 352 
Lewis, Major William B., mentioned, 

280, 286 
Lewisburg, district of, sentiment of, 
concerning Free School Act (1814), 62 
Lewisohn, Ludwig, mentioned, 57 
Library Societies of Charleston, 199 
Light Infantry, Captain Miller's, 132 
Linne^an Society of Paris, Stephen 
Elliott elected honorary member of, 189 
Literary and Philosophical Society, 

Stephen Elliott first president of, 71 
Littel, Eliakim, of Pennsylvania, letter 

of, to Hayne, 319 
Livingston, Edward, speech of, in great 



548 



INDEX 



debate alluded to, 276; influence upon 
President Jackson, 300; partiality for 
Hayne of, 326; argument of, in great 
debate, 328; framer of Jackson's Proc- 
lamation, 329; slip of, in framing, 
336; characterization of nullification by, 
339; strength of, as an adviser, 

363 
Logan, George, free black man, men- 
tioned, 68, 69 
LoNGACRE, James Barton, draftsman of 
best known picture of Robert Y. Hayne, 
149 
Long street, A. B., mentioned, 469 
Louisiana, admission of, to the Union, 39 
Louisville, Cincinnati and Charles- 
ton Railroad, 453, 463; see also 
Charleston and Cincinnati Railroad 
Lowndes, Mr., mentioned, 515 
Lowndes, William, defeated by William 
Turpin for Legislature, 28; member 
of committee to draft resolutions (1809), 
in support of Union, Constitution and 
rights of country, 29; mentioned, 30, 
32; enters Congress, 37; influence of, 
in Congress, 38, 39; defeats Stephen 
Elliott for Congress, 41; against em- 
bargo, 49; estimate of, by New York 
Evening Post, 51; mentioned, 52, 66, 
71; offered Secretaryship of War by 
President Monroe, 84; sketch of style, 
manner and influence of, by fellow- 
member of Congress from Pennsylvania, 
loi, 102; universal regard for, 103; 
candidate for Speaker, 104; mentioned, 
105, 106, 107, 123; nominated for 
President of U. S. by S. C. Legislature, 
125; letter of Hayne to, 126; resigns 
seat in Congress, 128; mentioned, 129; 
death of, 140; mentioned, 143, 144, 151; 
chances for the Presidency considered, 
183; tribute to, by A. P. Butler (1825), 
188; tribute to, by Hugh Swinton 
Legare (1830), 284; toast to the memory 
of, by Charleston Unionists, 290; 
Clay's tribute to, in U. S. Senate (1832), 
303; defended from attack of John 
Randolph by National Gazette, 321; 
admiration of Richard Henry Wilde for, 
366; mentioned, 384; mentioned, 445, 

515. 53° 
Lyceum at Sullivan's Island (1800), 19 
Lyman, Mr. William, mentioned, 45 
Lynah, James, mentioned, 435 
Lyndhearst, Lord, mentioned, 366 



McBee, Vardry, mentioned, 506, 507; 
candidate for presidency of L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 526; elected, 529 
McCrady, Edward, mentioned, 296 
McCullough (McCulloch?), argu- 
ment of Attorney-General Wirt, in case 
of bank against, alluded to, 146 
McDuFFiE, George, supports amend- 
ment to U. S. Constitution in S. C. 
Legislature, 78; supports repeal of 
act prohibiting importation of negroes 
from other States and Territories, 80; 
attempts of, to amend bill prohibiting 
introduction of free persons of color into 
State, 98; mentioned, 154, 170; at- 
tacked by ex-Senator Smith, 171; dis- 
cussion of, with Trimble of Kentucky 
in Congress, 193; speech of, at Charles- 
ton (1831), 287; mentioned, 291; 
consulted by Judge Baldwin concern- 
ing tariff, 305; appointed by nulli- 
fication convention, framer of address 
to people of the Union, 319; mentioned, 
359i 362, 391, 393; views on negro 
slavery question, 394; argument in 
message as Governor against railroad, 
409, 411; mentioned, 438; Calhoun's 
opinion of character of, 439 ; mentioned, 
446, 484, 499, 530 
McMaster, John Bach, mentioned, 35, 

120, 178, 183, 220 
McNeill, Major William G., chief 
engineer of L. C. & C. R. R. Co., men- 
tioned, 419, 424, 491, 505; pall-bearer 
at funeral of Robert Y. Hayne, 515 
Madeira Wine, price of at Charleston 

(1791), 12 
Madison, James, 28, 29, 40, 42, 66 
Magrath, a. G., mentioned, 405 
Magrath, John, mentioned, 405 
Magwood, Simon, mentioned, 29, 283 
Mangum, Willie Person, Senator from 
N. C, mentioned, 314; nominated 
for President of U. S. by S. C. Legis- 
lature, 416 
Manigault, Charles, mentioned, 194, 
196, 221; letter of Alfred Huger to, 381 
Manning, Governor Richard L, ap- 
pointment of William Harper U. S. 
Senator by, 18S; signer of Unionist 
address (1832), 297; vice-president of 
Unionist convention, S. C. (1832), 332; 
supports abolition resolution of H. L. 
Pinckney in Congress, 399; death of, 
400 



INDEX 



549 



Mansfield, E. D., director in L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 419 

Marbois, Francois, Marquis de, men- 
tioned, 18 
Mareuil, Madame de, mentioned, 195 
Marion, district of, sentiment of, con- 
cerning Free School Act (181 4), 62 
Marion, General Francis, mentioned, 

288 
Marshall, Mr., mentioned, 7 
Martin, Robert, memorialist for S. C. 

& Canal R. R. Co., 217 
Maryland, mentioned, 23; free blacks 

of, 205 
Mason, William, mentioned, 16, 17, 19 
Massachusetts, mentioned, 23, 24, 29, 
70, 71; report of committee of Legis- 
lature on resident negroes and mulattoes, 
114 
Mechanics of Charleston, 201, 271 
Medical Jourtial, The, pubUshed at Charles- 
ton, S.C. (1826), 200 
Memminger, C. G., mentioned, 278, 281, 
290; framer of Unionist Remonstrance 
and Protest, 332, mentioned, 415; 
argues for grant of banking facilities 
to railroad by N. C. Legislature, 417, 
418; argues for divorce of bank and 
State in S. C. Legislature, 446, 447, 
453; opposes joinder of presidency 
of bank and railroad, 487 ; sent to Ken- 
tucky to obtain grant of banking facilities 
to railroad, 492; failure of, to obtain 
grant from Kentucky Legislature, 493; 
mentioned, 506, 507; report of, on 
condition of finances of L. C. & C. 
R. R. Co., 508, 509, 510; mentioned, 
512, 52s; chief spokesman of party 
favoring Gadsden for president, 526 
Merchants Bonds, Cheves's speech on, 

45 

MiDDLETON, Henry, election of, to Con- 
gress to succeed Langdon Cheves, 60; 
defeats Dr. Moser for nomination, and 
Crafts for el^Jtion, 72; point made by, 
against adoption of ordinance of nulli- 
fication by, 319, 320; vice-president 
Unionist convention (1832), 332 

MiDDLETON, Henry A., mentioned, 506, 
512; pall-bearer at funeral of Robert 
Y. Hayne, 515 

Miller, E. L., designer of first locomotive 
built in America, 121, 189 

Miller, Governor Stephen D., men- 
tioned, 217; defeats William Smith for 



U. S. Senate, 283; advises nullification 

convention, 352; resigns from U. S. 

Senate, 374 
Mills's Atlas, mentioned, 118 
Mills, Robert, mentioned, 124, 199 
Mills, Robert G., director in L. C. & 

C. R. R. Co., 419 
Mission Society, at Charleston (1826), 

199 
Missouri, mentioned, 99, 100, 113 
Missouri (Question) Compromise, 99, 

105- 245 
Mitchell, Colonel, mentioned, 7 
Mitchell, James, secretary Brown Fel- 
lowship Society, 69 
Monitor, The, mentioned, 56 
Monroe Doctrine, The, 192 
Monroe, James, 66, 88, 213 
Morris, Mr., mentioned, 7 
Morse, actor, mentioned, 46, 47 
Morse, Samuel F. B., mentioned, 149 
Moser, Doctor Philip B., author of 
S. C. duelling law, 47; chairman of 
committee of Legislature reporting 
against suspension of Free School Sys- 
tem, 62 ; opponent of Henry Middle- 
ton for nomination by Republican 
party of Charleston, for Congress, 72; 
mentioned, 197, 198, 320 
Moultrie, General William, men- 
tioned, 8, 17, 220 
Murray, James, commissioner for S. C. 
C. & R. R. Co., 217 

Napier, Thomas, memorialist for S. C. 
& C. R. R. Co., 217 

Napoleon, mentioned, 32 

Naudain, Arnold, Senator from Dela- 
ware, mentioned, 314 

Naval Academy, mentioned, 190, 209 

Neck Rangers, Captain Martindale's, 
132 

Negrin, J. J., mentioned, 19 

Negroes, in S. C, 6, 20; sentences for 
stealing and killing, 31; protection of, 
by courts, 67, 70; threat of insurrection 
of, at Charleston, 130; regulation with re- 
gard to entering port of, 179; at Charles- 
ton (1826), 201 

Newberry, district of, sentiment of con- 
cerning Free School Act (1814), 
62 

New England, temper of (181 1 ), 36; vote 
of, on tariff (1828), 219, 222; tribute 
of Hayne to the democracy of, 249; 



55° 



INDEX 



Webster's defence of attitude of (1811), 

257 
New York, mentioned, 23; blockade of 
(1811), 32; subscription to stock of U. S. 
Bank of, 70; negro population of (1816), 

71 
NiLEs's Register, mentioned, 182 
Ninety-Six, district of, population, 6 
Nixon, Mr., mentioned, 188 
Noble, Patrick, mentioned, 391, 407, 

439. 469, 473. 475. 480 
Northrop, Amos B., mentioned, 40 
Northrop, Claudia, mentioned, 40 
Norton, Congressman from S. C, men- 
tioned, 461 
Nott, Abraham, raised to the bench, 37; 
opinion of, in case of State vs. Edwards, 
83; opinion of, in case of Bulow and 
Potter vs. City Council, 94, 95, 96, 97, 
115; toast to the memory of, at Unionist 
banquet (1831), 290; mentioned, 295 
Nullification, Massachusetts' declara- 
tion of, 29, 36, 37; by Ohio, 115; 
proposed by Richmond Enquirer for 
Virginia, 116; Webster's argument 
against, 239; Hayne's argument for, 
251; Webster's ridicule of, 259; Jack- 
son's letter to Major Lewis concerning, 
280; failure of attempt of, in S. C. (1830), 
285; State Rights party of S. C. com- 
mitted to (1831), 287; cases of, cited by 
Hayne, 288, 2 89; Calhoun's letter on, 
291, 292, 293; argument of S. C. 
Unionists against, 297, 298; claim of 
Jackson's denunciation of, 299; Liv- 
ingston's education of Jackson concern- 
ing, 300; mentioned, 317, 318, 319, 320, 
321, 324, 326, 328, 332, 337, 339, 340, 
348, 349, 350, 353, 355, 357, 358, 360, 
366, 373, 379 

O 'Donovan, Michael, mentioned, 28 
O'Driscoll, Dennis, mentioned, 82 
Ogilby, Mr., mentioned, 515 
Olmstead Case, mentioned, 288 
O'Neall, John Belton, mentioned, 45, 
50, 154, 18S, 283; discusses Hayne's 
conduct as Governor during nullification, 
353 i opinion as to settlement between 
Unionists and nullifiers, 377; letter of, to 
Hayne concerning Western Railroad, 391 
Orangeburg and Beaufort, population 

of districts of (1790), 6 
Orleans Territory, discussion over, 2;^, 
35 



Overseers, use of, by planters in S. C, 
67 ; by Colonization Society in Africa, 
203 

Panama Mission, 190, 224, 393 
Parker, Charles, mentioned, 317 
Parker, Daniel, mentioned, 215 
Parker, Thomas, mentioned, 132 
Parton, James, biographer of Jackson, 

mentioned, 231 
Patent Railway, The, mentioned, 121 
Peacock (British sloop of war) mentioned, 

42 
Pendleton, district of, sentiment con- 
cerning Free School Act (1814), 62 
Pennsylvania, mentioned, 23; Calhoun's 
claim in 1822 of support from, for 
Presidency, 128; claimed for Jackson, 
1823, by Richmond Enquirer, 145; 
nominates Jackson (1824) for President, 
Calhoun for Vice-President, 169; both 
Senators from, vote against confirma- 
tion of Henry Clay as Secretary of 
State, 185 
Pension System, Hayne's speech against, 
272, 273; mentioned, 301; comment 
of Alexandria Gazette on Hayne's speech 
against, 315 
Pepoon vs. Clarke, case of, 67, 70 
Peronneau, Elizabeth, wife of William 

Hayne, 16 
Petigru, J. L., memoir of, 83; affair 
between Hunt and, 197; memorialist 
for S. C. Canal & R. R. Co., 216, 217; 
Unionist leader at Charleston (1830), 
278; defeated for State Senate, 281; 
mentioned, 282; toasts memory of 
Judge Nott, 290; letter of, 295; signer 
of Unionist address (1832), 297; men- 
tioned, 317; letter of, 318, 319; framer 
of Unionist Remonstrance and Protest, 
(1832), 332; suggested for Intendant of 
Charleston, 378; opposes support of 
H. L. Pinckney by Unionists, 404; 
mentioned, 409, 416, 431; criticism of 
Calhoun by, 432, 433; mistake con- 
cerning public opinion by, 439; opposes 
Calhoun's financial views in S. C. 
Legislature, 446, 447; mentioned, 450; 
reflections of, concerning conflagration 
at Charleston (1838), 460; mentioned, 
461; comments of, on death of Havne, 
S16 
Petrie, George, Revolutionary soldier, 
Hayne's interest in, 145 



INDEX 



551 



Phillips, Professor Ulrich B., criticism 
of Hayne's address as president of 
Knoxville convention by, 402, 403 
Pickens, F. W., mentioned, 373 
Pickering, Timothy, mentioned, 23> 176 
PiNCKNEY, Charles, influence of, on 
State and nation, 2; president of con- 
vention framing Constitution for S. C. 
(1790), 3; defender of Constitution of 
U. S. in S. C. convention called to ratifj^, 
4; reelected Governor (1791), 7; house 
of, in Charleston described, 10; third 
election of, as Governor, 18; speech in 
U. S. Senate against appointment of 
Chief Justice as envoy to France, 
alluded to, 21; extracts from speech 
for ratification of Constitution of U. S., 
21, 22, 23, 24; objects to multiplica- 
tion of office in individual, 25; Courier's 
attack upon, 26; Minister to Spain, 27; 
fourth term as Governor, 28; chairman 
of joint meeting of Charleston Re- 
pubhcans and Federalists (1809) to 
support Union Constitution and rights 
of country', 29; views of, on Foreign 
Trade questioned at Charleston, 30; 
views of Union by, contrasted with 
view of Josiah Quincy, 34; men- 
tioned, 47, 48, 59, 60; candidate for 
Congress, 75; charges against, 76, 77; 
speech on Missouri Question, 99 ; men- 
tioned, 117, iiS, 176; death of, 279; 
mentioned, 294, 329, 502; loss of papers 
of, alluded to, 530 
PiNCKNEY, Charles Cotesworth, deputy 
from S. C. to Constitutionr.l Convention 
(1787), 2; meeting with Washington of, 
at Haddrels Point (1791), S; Presidential 
candidate of Federal party against 
Jefferson, 27; against Madison, 28; 
induces Cincinnati Society of S. C. to 
oppose duelling, 47; death of, 279 
PiNCKNEY, Charles Cotesvi^orth, Jr., 

mentioned, iSo, 1S5 
PiNCKNEY, Colonel Thomas, mentioned, 

281 
PiNCKNEY, Frances Henrietta, 48 
PiNCKNEY, Go\'ERNOR Thomas, men- 
tioned, 2, 28; member of joint com- 
mittee at Charleston of Republicans and 
Federalists (1809), 29; views of, con- 
cerning negro mechanics, 130, 198; 
desire of, to see Andrew Jackson elected 
President, 222; death of, 279 
PiNCKNEY, H. L., valedictorian of class 



at S. C. college, 47; elected to S. C. 
Legislature, 72; advocates election of 
Robert Y. Hayne to U. S. Senate, 139; 
moves indorsement of Calhoun for 
President by S. C. Legislature (1823), 
145; mentioned, 222; leader of State 
Rights party at Charleston (1830), 278; 
value of support of, to Calhoun, 279; 
defeated for Intendant of Charleston 
by J. R. Pringle, Unionist candidate, 
281; elected to Legislature and made 
Speaker, 282; defeats J. R. Pringle 
for Intendancy, 295 ; defeats H. A. De 
Saussure for Intendancy, 317; asserts 
his independence in Congress, 396, 397; 
motion of, concerning abolition petition, 
398, 399; struggle of, to return to Con- 
gress, 404; Hayne's statement con- 
cerning, 405 ; irritation at Charleston 
over defeat of, for Congress, 420; 
dinner to, 421; ex-Senator Smith's 
commendation of, 423; mentioned, 

430, 435. 451. 463 
Pitt, mentioned, 4 

PoiNDEXTER, George, from Mississippi 
Territory calls Quincy to order in House 
of Representatives for mentioning seces- 
sion in debate, ^^ 

Poinsett, Joel R., appointed chairman 
committee of Elections, S. C. Legisla- 
ture by Speaker Hayne, 77; head of 
Board of Internal Improvements of 
State, 117; member of second court, 
appointed to try negro insurrectionists 
at Charleston, 132; as member of 
Congress attacked by ex-Senator Smith, 
171; Unionist leader at Charleston 
(1830), 278; elected as Unionist to S. C. 
Legislature (1830), 281; mentioned, 
387, 461, 475 

Poole vs. Perritt, case of, 83 

Population or South Carolina, 6, 29 

Porcher, F. Y., mentioned, 317 

Porter, Mr., mentioned, 188 

Porter, B. F., tribute of, to Hayne, 517 

PoYAS, Peter, negro insurrectionist at 
Charleston, 131, 133 

Presbyterians, places of wor ;'p in 
Charleston (1826), 200 

Preston, W. C., graduate of S. C. college, 
47; State Rights leader, 283; un- 
successful motion of, to call nullification 
convention (1S30), 285; account of 
Hayne's resignation from U. S. Senate 
1 and inaugural as Governor by, 322, 



552 



INDEX 



323; comment of, on Hayne's counter 
proclamation, 331; chairman of com- 
mittee on Federal Relations S. C. Legis- 
lature, 341 ; elected to U. S. Senate, 374; 
supports railroad to the West, 388; re- 
elected to U. S. Senate, 416; dinner 
to, at Charleston, 420; differs with 
Calhoun on banking question, 431, 432, 
445; mentioned, 446, 451, 461, 462, 
463; revives Southern Review together 
with Hayne and Legare, 493 

Primogeniture, abolition of, in S. C, i ; 
discussed in speech of Charles Pinckney, 
advocating ratification of Constitution 
of U. S., 22 

Proclamation of President Jackson, 
concerning nullification, 276, 326, 327, 

329. 3?,°^ 331, m, 335. Zif', 5Z^, 339. 

341, 343, 344 
PuRCELL, Jack, negro insurrectionist at 

Charleston, 133, 185 
PuRCELL, Rev. Doctor, mentioned, 20 

Quakers, places of worship in Charleston 

(1826), 200 
Quince Street, in Charleston, 17 
QuiNCY, town of, mentioned, 120 
QuiNCY, Josiah, secession speech in 
Congress (181 1), t,^; successful appeal 
of, from ruling of Speaker against, 34; 
argument against declaration of war 
(1812), 35; argument on constitutional 
compact, 38; scornful allusion of, to 
flag, 39 ; opposition to increase of army, 
43; mentioned, 295; responsibility of, 
for nullification, 357 

Rambouillet Decrees, mentioned, 32 
Ramsay, Doctor David, mentioned, 29, 64 
Ramsay, J. G. M., director of L. C. & 

C. R. R. Co., 419 
Ramsay, John, State Rights resolutions of, 

217 
Ramsay Society, mentioned, 199 
Randolph, John, mentioned, 43, 100, 

105. 321 
Ravenel, D., mentioned, 72 
Read, Harleston, mentioned, 283 
Remonstrance and Protest of Union 

Party in S. C, 332 
Revenue Collection Bill, 349, 350, 

351, 353. 356, 452. 453, see also Force 

Bill 
Revolutionary Society of Charleston, 

54 



Rhett, Albert, leads fight in S. C. 
Legislature in favor of divorce of bank 
and State, 446 

Rhett (Smith), R. Barnwell, 283; 
declares nullification settlement no 
triumph, 353; supports Calhoun's 
views on banking, 432; Petigru's 
estimate of, 433 ; resolution of, concern- 
ing abolition petitions, 451, 452; men- 
tioned, 463 

Rhode Island, mentioned, 24, 209, 298 

Rhodes, J. F., mentioned, 292 

Richardson, John S., mentioned, 106 

Richardson, W. H., director in L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 419 

Rives, William Cabell, Senator from 
Virginia, mentioned, 349 

Roberts, Benjamin, director of L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 419 

Robinson, free black man, mentioned, 69 

Robinson, John, mentioned, 217, 317 

Robinson, John M., Senator from 
Illinois, mentioned, 314 

Robbins, Ashur, Senator from Rhode 
Island, mentioned, 209 

Roman Catholics, places of worship in 
Charleston (1826), 200 

RuGGLES, Benjamin, Senator from Ohio, 
mentioned, 314 

Rush, Benjaihn, mentioned, 4 

Rush, Richard, Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, mentioned, 195, 263 

Russia, John Quincy Adams appointed 
Minister to, 29 

Rutledge, Frederick, pall-bearer of 
Robert Y. Hayne, 515 

Rutledge, John, son of Dictator, men- 
tioned, 41 

Saint Michael's Church, mentioned, 
12, 20, 54 

Saint Philip's Church, mentioned, 12, 
54, 200; destroyed by fire, 378 

Santee Canal, mentioned, 20 

Sass, Mr., mentioned, 281 

Saucy Jack, The, privateer built at Charles- 
ton, 41, 47 

Schmidt, J. W., mentioned, 281 

Scientific Expedition to the South 
Seas, mentioned, 226 

Scott, engineer employed by L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 505 

Scott, Sir Walter, meeting at Charles- 
ton on occasion of death of, 321 

Seabrook, W. B., mentioned, 217, 320 



INDEX 



555 



of U. S. House of Representatives (iSii) 
on Poindexter's point of order against 
Quincy, 33 

Verplank, Gulian Cromelin, introduces 
bill to reduce duties in U. S. House of 
Representatives (1833), 352 

Vesey, Denmark, leader of negro insur- 
rectionists at Charleston (1822), 123, 
129, 130, 132. 133, 185, 384 

Walker's reading room at Charleston 
(1826), 200 

Walsh's American Register, 84 

Ward, John, mentioned, 29 

Warren, mentioned, 78 

Washington, George, visit of, to 
Charleston, 7, 10, 11 

Washington, William, mentioned, 217 

Webster, Daniel, mentioned, 35, 43; 
resolutions of, concerning the Berlin 
and Milan Decrees, 48; mentioned, 50; 
New York Evening Post's estimate of, 
51; opposes tariff of 1816, 112; men- 
tioned, 124; struggle w'ith Clay over 
tariff of (1824), 154, 155, 156; men- 
tioned, 192, 194; champion of Adams's 
administration in House of Repre- 
sentatives, 210; Senator from Massa- 
chusetts, 214; resolution of, in Senate 
concerning Panama Mission, 224; 
failure of, to procure printing of docu- 
ments concerning Mission, 225; esti- 
mate of, by John Quincy Adams, 227; 
influence of, in Senate, 230; occasion of 
debate of, with Hayne according to 
Parton and according to Benton, 231; 
John Quincy Adams's praise of speech 
of, 233; e\'idences of premeditation of, 
23s; misstatements of, 237; confidence 
of, 239; advantages of, 240; mentioned, 
241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 247, 250, 251; 
rejoinder of, to Hayne's repl)', 253 ; men- 
tioned, 260; his criticism of Hayne's 
argument on compact considered, 263; 
Paul Hamilton Hayne's opinion of high 
literary quality of speech of, 264; de- 
scribed by Philadelphia GazcUe, 265, 
266; estimate of, in Charleston, 269; 
mentioned, 272, 274, 292, 299, 300, 301; 
supplanted by Clay as leader in Senate, 
302; mentioned, 304, 306; opposes ap- 
pointment of Van Buren as Minister to 
England, 314; mentioned, 315; sup- 
ports attempt of Clay to pass Bank Bill 



over presidential veto, 316; argument 
of, in reply to Hayne's constitutional 
argument criticised by Livingston, 328; 
mentioned, 347; member of select com- 
mittee on Compromise Bill (1833), sup- 
ports Calhoun against Clay's amend- 
ment to Compromise Bill, 350; replies to 
Clay's taunt, 351; mentioned 437. 521 

Wesleyan Journal, pubhshed at Charleston 
(1826), 200 

Wheelwright, Lot, Boston memorialist 
on tariff, 215 

White, John Blake, mentioned, 63, 199 

White, Judge Hugh L., mentioned, 323 

WiCKLiFFE, Robert, director in L. C. & 
C. R. R. Co., 419 

Wilde, Richard Henry, ridicule of 
Compromise Bill by, in Congress, 351; 
lines quoted by, on idolatry, 366 

WiLKiNS, William, Senator from Penn- 
sylvania, mentioned, 349 

Williams, inventor of patent railway, 122 

Williams, Captain, engineer employed 
by L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 406, 413. 419 

Williams, D. R., mentioned, 39, 43. 5° 

WiLLi.'UMS, John S., mentioned, 389; 
director L. C. & C. R. R. Co., 419; 
mentioned, 472, 482 

Wilmington, Roanoke and Charleston 
Railroad, 503 

Wilson, Jehu, opponent of ratification 
of U. S. Constitution by S. C, 4 

Wilson, Governor John Lyde, men- 
tioned, 178, 180, 282 

Wilson, Professor Woodrow, men- 
tioned, 112 

WiNSLOW, Isaac, Boston memorialist on 
tariff, 215 

Wirt, William Henry, Attorney-General 
U. S., mentioned, 146 

Wise, Henry A., praised by Calhoun, 398; 
attacks H. L. Pinckney, 399; men- 
tioned, 452 

Witherspoon, John D., mentioned, 78, 80 

Yancey, Benjamin F., mentioned, 41, 48 
Yankees, 222, 357, 360, 361, 362, 363 
Yeadon, Rich.ard, editor Courier, sup- 
ports H. L. Pinckney for Congress, 404; 
mentioned, 446, 463 
Young, Dr. Robert, mentioned, 16 
Young, W. P., mentioned, 18 

Zimmerman, mentioned, 56 




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